What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
by Cumor
Summary: Emmett's light hearted scheme to liven up his siblings lives takes a wrong turn landing the group in question in hot water. Contains disciplinary spanking of teen vampires. If this isn't your thing please walk away.
1. Here, Hold My Beer

**Warning: **Contains disciplinary spanking... not abuse. If you do not find this acceptable please move along. Thanks.

**Disclaimer:** All the wonderful Twilight characters are property of Stephenie Meyer who is kind enough to loan them to us. I promise to return them in the same condition that I found them in... for the most part. Hey, at least I won't bend, fold or mutilate... much.

**AN:** Hi, y'all. This is just going to be a short bit of silliness used as a diversion from my other story. Felt the need to have a place to let the characters (and myself) decompress. Emmett came to my rescue and Esme decided to give poor over worked Carlisle a break though "Pops" is quite welcome to step in if he feels the need.

* * *

"Oh, come on. What could possibly go wrong?"

"You do realize that nearly every time those words come out of your mouth we're lucky if anything goes right. Reminds me of those guys who start out on some stupid stunt by saying, 'here hold my beer.' "

Emmett rolled his eyes at Jasper's rebuff of his plans while grinning ear to ear as he tried to entice his siblings into joining in the fun. This would be great. He would go it alone if he had to but it would be so much more fun to share the experience with his brothers and sister.

"Mom is out shopping with Rose and Pops is occupied. It's just us, guys and we could all do with some fun. Humans do this all the time and nothing bad happens to them. Don't see why we should be any different."

Edward made a sound of disbelief then shook his head sadly. "You don't pay much attention do you, Em? How many times has dad come back from work with stories about all the injuries he has to treat this time of year because of these things? Besides, it's not something that we can easily hide unless we head way out away from the house and correct me if I'm wrong but didn't mom say that you aren't allowed to go out without either her or dad for the next couple of weeks. She sounded highly pissed off after your last installment of Destructo Boy's adventures in home demolition."

Jasper coughed as he shifted uncomfortably. "As luck would have it, those restrictions apply to me as well since we were both involved in that fiasco." He shot his burly brother a look of contempt. "Believe that was another one of those 'what could possibly go wrong' times. I'm not falling for it this go round, Em. You've gotten me into enough trouble, thanks. I feel no need to go there again anytime soon."

"Aw, but it does sound like such a good time, Jazz. I think it's a wonderful idea. Why should the humans get to have all the fun? Doesn't sound fair to me. As long as we're careful it will all be good. It's not like the humans haven't been doing their share of creating a show already so dad will think it's just more of their fun and games." Alice giggled with excitement.

"Alice, sweetheart, you don't think he will find it oddly loud? We are miles from anyone who would be celebrating like this. Be reasonable, baby. This is not a well thought out plan. In fact I would say this hasn't been thought out at all."

Emmett slapped his blond haired brother on the shoulder. "That's where you would be wrong, Jazzman. I've been laying in supplies for weeks. Got everything all worked out, bro just need the man power to pull it off and if something should go wrong I'll take the fall. No problem. See, you've got nothing to worry about."

"Do you honestly think that mom and dad will let the rest of us walk if we get caught red handed? Exactly how long have you been part of the family, Em? If we do this and get caught all four of us are going down in a blaze of glory. Granted, your behind might be blazing a little brighter then the rest of ours but dad will make sure we all pay for going along with your sophomoric idea." Edward rubbed his eyes as he sighed. Life was one big adventure to his goofy brother but the rest of them always seemed to end up as collateral damage in some way. He couldn't believe this bit of stupidity would be any different. "Not to mention, how happy do you think Rose will be if she comes home and finds out that your fool ass went and got into more trouble?"

If it was possible, Emmett's smile grew brighter. "Why do you think she went shopping with Mom? She agreed to run some interference. See, I told you all that I've got this all planned out. Will you and Jazz stop being such worry warts and just have some fun? Would be a shame if little sis and I end up celebrating all by ourselves but if the two of you are too chicken..."

"I aint no chicken, Emmett." Jasper spat defensively. His eyes flared with anger at having his courage questioned by the big oaf. Though he knew that somehow for some reason he would end up regretting this, he answered his brother's challenge. "Alright, if Alice is in then so am I. Someone has to keep y'all out of trouble and it might as well be me though I still think this is birdbrained. Hell, even a bird would think this is stupid."

After having won Jasper over to his side, Emmett turned his full attention on Edward.

"So, Eddie, what do you say?"

Edward grimaced at the hated nickname then shook his head. "It is a fool idea. You realize that, right? And when mom and dad find out..."

"Edward, they won't find out. You're only young once. Let's have some fun."

"Alice you've been young for 92 years."

"But it's still only once regardless of how long it lasts." She smiled as she bounced on her toes. "Please, Edward. I really hate to see you get left out of the fun. It really isn't that bad of an idea."

Edward smirked slightly. "Notice that you don't actually say it's a good idea."

The pixie-ish teen grinned happily. "We won't know how good of an idea it is until we try it but at least we know that it won't be boring."

Jasper snorted at his mate's words. "Boredom is a rare thing around here. Especially with Emmett as the master mind." He fell silent for a moment then groaned. "Damn. Now **that** is the most frightening thing about this entire potential calamity. We are following a plan organized by this doofus. We deserve everything we've got coming."

Alice giggled as she reached up to kiss her husband. "You worry too much."

"You know, I can handle boredom just fine." Edward slumped against the side of his mother's glass paned greenhouse but one look at the joy in his sister's eyes and his resistance folded. "Oh, fine but if this thing goes south, and I know that it will, I'm holding you directly responsible, Alice."

"Hey! There is nothing wrong with the south."

"No offense meant, Jasper."

Emmett clapped his hands and rubbed his palms together as his laughter rang out with a slightly evil intonation. That was easier then he thought it would have been. He knew that it would be easy for him to push Jasper's buttons to get him to go along but he was grateful for Alice's help in convincing Edward. Things had been much too serious around the house lately and their little clan needed to remember what it was like to just let loose and have fun. He had taken his idea to Alice who embraced it wholeheartedly. Convincing his Rose to go along had been a minor challenge but she eventually acquiesced to play her part in helping him pull it off since she wouldn't be directly involved should something go awry. _As if. _

"Well, let's get this party started! Everything we need is in here." He opened the door to the greenhouse ushering his siblings inside to get their first glimpse of the treasures he had procured for their pyrotechnic delight. This was so totally going to be a night to remember and he knew he would have the added fun of making his brothers eat their words because there was no way in the world that anything could possibly go wrong.


	2. Big Bang Theory

Alice laid on her back looking up as the multi colored balls of fire and sparks illuminated the night sky. She had always enjoyed firework displays but being able to actually set them off was just all sorts of awesome. She and Jasper had been setting off those artillery shells that he seemed to like so well but now she decided to take a little break and just watch the festivities for a while. The petite girl giggled as she noticed Emmett and Jasper trying the connect fuses of a good half dozen shells together in an attempt to create a muliti shot explosion.

"I don't know if they are long enough, Em. I'm thinking we need extra fuses and we seem to be fresh out."

"They are plenty long enough, Jazz. Seriously, if a normal mortal can fire these bad boys with enough time to get out of the way, how much safer is it when you have superspeed?"

Jasper fell silent for several seconds and then huffed since he couldn't find any holes in Emmett's logic for a change. _What is this world coming to when Em makes sense?_

"No good, Jazz, that's what. I'm willing to bet that Armageddon is just around the corner." Edward lit a large bottle rocket then tossed it up in the air to give it some extra height before it took off into the sky to explode in a shower of sparks. "Just remember, guys, vampires aren't fireproof. If you blow a hand off and it goes up in flames, you're just screwed."

"Hey, Eddie, that gives me an idea." Emmett grinned devilishly as he packed the shells into their tube and lit the fuse.

Alice's eyes glazed over suddenly as the multi shot artillery arsenal zoomed skyward to exploded in an array of color and loud reports. She shuddered against what she was seeing before calling out, "Em, that's a really bad idea! Don't go there."

"But, sis it's pretty safe. Aint nothing I can't out run. 'Sides, I haven't even said what I was thinking about."

"No, you didn't but I agree with Alice. That's a really damn stupid idea, Em."

Jasper stood staring at his siblings. "Well, does someone want to let me in on what this terrible idea is?"

"Bottle rocket war," Emmett called out gleefully as he hummed a M-80 into the river, delighting at the explosion. "Hey, Ed, what's going on with Pops? Anything new?"

"He's still relaxing and reading. He was a little worried thinking that some kids are in the woods a bit too close to the house but it didn't bother him enough to think he had to check it out. So far, so good."

"There we go. Pops is chillin' and there is no way some paper and black powder is going to get the best of us so... BOTTLE ROCKET WAR! Eddie, you're with me. You and me against Jazz and Alice. Let's go guys. It will be fun. Nothing like the rush of doing something a little dangerous, right?"

Alice hopped to her feet and walked over towards the guys. "As long as we keep clear of the greenhouse, I guess it will be alright," her voice wavered slightly as her nervousness came through.

"Wasn't planning on hiding, little sis." Her adventurous brother gave Alice a wink as he grabbed a handful of bottle rockets and ran to the other side of the yard. Edward shook his head then relutantly armed himself for battle before jogging after Emmett.

"I don't know about this, Jazzy."

Her anxiety caused Jasper's stomach to churn. "You can sit it out if that makes you feel better, sugar. I can kick Em and Edward's butts single handedly." He kissed her cheek before giving her a reassuring smile. "Amateurs up against a seasoned solider? Please. Piece of cake."

While she hated to be left out of the fun, Alice nodded slightly. "I think I'll feel better watching. Just promise me that no one is going to put anyone's eye out. Dad will so kill us all."

"I promise, baby. Bob and weave. Bob and weave. We've got that down." Grabbing his ammunition, Jasper headed off to war.

His mate sat down on the grass to watch from a safe distance wondering if this was how it had been for his family when her Jazz had left to join the Texas cavalry. At least she was safe in the knowledge that he wouldn't be killed, but it was still hard knowing that he was putting himself in harms way. "Remember! Stay away from the greenhouse!", she called after him.

"One man army, huh? Pity."

"Alice just didn't feel up to it. No big deal."

"Sure , sure." Emmett sighed a little but he respected his little sister's decision. "It's all good. Now, what say we up the stakes?"

Edward raised an eyebrow as he studied his burly brother. Emmett was just so damn competitive and often that led them all down some dangerous or just plain stupid path and with explosives mixed into it... _Oh he has to be kidding._

"Wha'cha got on your mind, Em?" Jasper's curiosity was peaked.

Emmett chuckled at his brilliant idea. "Well since our member of the fairer sex decided to sit this one out it's safe to take it to the next level. I was thinking we could try to catch the rocket hurling at you and toss it back. Whoever can return the most before they have one explode on them wins."

"You can not be serious." Edward's expression was blank as he stared at Emmett. "How deep does your idiocy truly run?"

"What's the worse that can happen? Blow off a finger or two. Pfft. Stick it back on and we're good to go again." Emmett slipped into thought then quickly recovered. "If you lose a finger that will cost you five returned rockets. Penalty for blown off bits seems fair."

"What the hell..."

"No, Edward. That makes sense. If you're too slow to get something explosive out of your hand it should deduct points."

Edward's mouth fell open as he gazed at Jasper in disbelief. "Are you really willing to go along with this grand stupidity?"

"Hell, I've lost a finger here and there back in the day. Hurts but repairs pretty quickly."

"Weren't you just with me when I mentioned about our combustibility?"

"Eh. These things are pretty tame. Don't think fire is going to be an issue." Jasper turned a bottle rocket over in his hand. "Just keep the aim on the down low. I promised Alice that we wouldn't take out an eye. Would hate to face my little hell cat while sportin' only one and she does have a point about papa spittin' nails if we do that much damage."

"I can't believe..."

"Aw come on, Eddie. Where is your sense of adventure?" Emmett punched his brother in the shoulder. "I'll even give you a ten rocket lead. Fun, bro. It's about having fun." When Edward showed no sign of giving in Emmett switched tactics. "Alright, then just do me a favor. Just give it a shot. If you're not having fun, if it's too dangerous for you we'll stop. Don't knock it 'til you try it, bro."

Edward narrowed his eyes as he glared at Emmett then snatched up his bottle rockets while he dug in his pocket for a lighter.

"HELL YA!"

After several minutes, Edward had to give it to Emmett; he was having fun. His greater speed made him a natural as he out ran the bottle rockets and his brothers. Emmett's hand had scorched a bit when a short fuse caused one of his projectiles to self destruct before it left the hanger but all in all his fears had been unfounded.

As caught up as they were in their game, the boys failed to realize just how much ground they had covered as they ran dodging the thrown missiles until Alice yelled out in warning... a bit too late.

Emmett had just brought a rocket up over his shoulder at the peak of his toss but before he could bring it forward it left his hand squealing into the darkness. This hadn't been the first one with a short fuse this evening so the firework battling trio paid it no attention until the first explosion filled the air with billowing smoke and whistling colorful balls of fire.

* * *

_What the hell? _

Carlisle's eyes grew wide as the house was shaken by the concussion of an explosion. Fear for his children's safety caused him to race down the stairs and out the door but the coven leader stopped short at the sight of a huge blinding ball of flashing light, sparks and loud reports emanating from where Esme's greenhouse had once stood. Quickly scanning the scene, he spotted Jasper hunched over Alice protectively just out of the fire zone while Emmett and Edward stood near by gawking at the spectacle blazing in the yard. Carlisle shielded his face as a blanket of sparks shot out from the center of the mass to light up the entire yard and boarding forest, showering them all with burning flecks.

Several long minutes passed before the mountain of fireworks was finally spent and an eerie silence filled the yard. With ears still ringing, Carlisle turned to address his children.

"Is anyone hurt?"

His darkened eyes focused on his fidgeting jokester son. This calamity had Emmett's name written all over it. His son ran a hand through his thick curly singed hair as he stared at his feet, finding it impossible to face his father. When he didn't speak, the patriarch turned his attention to the huddled pair.

"Jasper? Alice?"

"We're fine, daddy; at least for now." Alice's voice was very soft and tinged with worry.

"Dad." Edward was also finding it very difficult to meet his father's eyes. "We didn't mean to..."

Carlisle held both of his hands up towards his son to halt his words. "I just want to know if anyone was hurt."

"No, dad. Amazingly, no one was injured."

"Good. That's all that I needed to know." His calm tone disturbed his children greatly. Carlisle crossed his arms over his chest as he stood looking over the wreckage and the few small fires still burning within. Sighing deeply he shook his head. _What were they thinking? They could have killed themselves._ His jaw twitched as he clenched his teeth in frustration at his offsprings' carelessness."Put those out, " he nodded towards the fire, "then get inside and get yourselves cleaned up. Every one of you reeks of gunpowder." His eyes came to rest on Alice projecting his disbelief that his baby would find herself involved in the boys' hare brained idea. Alice looked away as she mentally chastise herself for worrying her father and not trying harder to stop the more dangerous aspects of the night.

"Pops, I really am sor..."

"I don't want to hear it, Emmett. Just do as I say." Carlisle slowly returned to the house leaving his miscreants behind but not before dropping the guard on his thoughts to let Edward in.

"OH, FUCK! Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

"What is it Eddie? What did he tell you?"

With unabashed fear in his eyes, Edward looked at his three siblings. His mouth went dry as he fought against his rising anxiety to share what he had heard. With voice faltering, Edward finally answered quietly. "He wished us luck trying to explain this fiasco to mom."

**AN:** Well thankfully no body parts were lost to the flames that our little vampiric moths couldn't stop themselves from flying too close to. Carlisle needs a little down time before he could deal with his delinquents but figures that Moma bear is more then capable of bringing her cubs back in line.

Thanks for all the reviews and adds, guys. I really appreciate the support more then you can ever know.


	3. Fallout

"Mom, we really should go back to that little boutique. We needed to stop in and pick that bracelet up for Alice. I can't believe I completely forgot she asked me to get it. She's going to kill me. It won't take that long to double back." Rosalie gave her mother a hopeful look.

"We're almost home, Rose. I'm sure Alice will survive one more day and then the two of you can run to Port Angeles tomorrow after school. Actually, I was rather surprised that she didn't want to go with us today. It's not like Alice to pass up on a shopping trip."

Rose shifted nervously as she tried to think of something else that could keep her mother away from the house for a little while longer. Em hadn't called yet and she was suppose to keep Esme occupied until she had heard from him. This was not going well at all.

"Oh, Alice had a couple of things to do." _That would have been more important then adding to her wardrobe? Really, Rose? You are so going to have to do better then that. What in the hell are you thinking?_ "School stuff. Book report that she forgot about or something like that, you know? Besides, after her last shop-a-thon Dad kinda cut her off for a while."

"Hmm."

Esme's eyes never left the road but there was something in her daughter's voice that didn't sit right with her. She knew her children well enough to know when they were up to something. Rose was not normally one to scheme nor was she inclined to be nervous so Esme could only think that something was going on with Emmett to make her daughter act so peculiar. _Emmett must be up to no good. What kind of mess are they trying to keep me from walking into? The mind simply boggles at the ideas of what that boy can come up with. _

"Looks like some of the town kids are having fun." Esme nodded towards a dazzling firework display that suddenly lit up the night sky. "Seems to be fairly close to the house. They must be shooting them over on the riverbank. Good thing it rained yesterday. Fireworks in the trees are so hazardous. The last thing we need to have to deal with is a fire."

"Yeah, that is something to worry about," Rose responded rather absentmindedly as she busied herself sending a text message to her mate. "Stupid kids. Just asking for trouble."

"Well, I think the beach would have been a better place for fireworks but as long as they are taking precautions to keep themselves safe it's just all good fun."

_Please keep thinking that way, mom. Em, you have to have kept your phone on you because if not..._

"Ooo, that one was pretty. I wonder..." Esme's thought was abruptly disrupted by an ear-shattering explosion. "What sort of firework was that? Sounded more like someone setting off dynamite."

"It may have been dynamite. You know how wild kids can get, mom. Some just aren't happy unless they are destroying something." Rosalie sighed heavily as her mother turned off the main road onto the long winding path that led to their home. _We're dead. I knew it. I told him that this was a bad idea. Why in the hell did I let him sucker me into this? _ Another loud report filled the air sounding much too close then it should have been. _I should have stuck to my guns. Em, if dad doesn't' kill you, I'm going to._

"If they really are being destructive, your dad and I probably should go put a stop to it. Just get them to move further down river. I'm sure they don't realize they are that close to our house so I'm certain they will be willing to take their party a safer distance once they realize we live near."

"I wouldn't bet on that," Rose whispered to herself.

She heard her mother gasp before she saw the reason for herself. The girl's eyes widened as she was stunned by the sight of the whistling, exploding, sparking ground level disaster. _What the hell? Fireworks not suppose to be earthbound. Where is the greenhou... OH SHIT, EMMETT!_ She covered her eyes with her hand as she slightly hung her head praying that it would all go away. Surely this was just some bad dream... _Oh God, how I wish vampires slept right now since then maybe I could hold onto that hope._ "Shit, Emmett."

At her daughter's words, Esme shifted her attention from the blazing display to the young woman sitting next to her. Though worried, she felt the first tinges of anger begin to spark. "What do you know about this, Rosalie?"

"I plead the fifth."

"Rosalie Lillian, if you ever want to see the light of day outside of school again you will answer me." Esme's amber eyes suddenly narrowed as a thought struck her. "Your job was to keep me out of town, wasn't it?"

Rosalie's silence was all the confirmation her mother needed. Esme let out a frustrated sigh. "I can't believe this. I can't believe that you would... I just can't..." Frustrated to the point of not being able to complete a coherent thought, Esme slammed the car into park,switched off the ignition then extracted herself from behind the wheel. "Get out, Rose. You need to come triage this disaster with me since you felt the need to be involved."

Her daughter reluctantly exited the car while trying to keep a comfortable distance from her mother as the matriarch quickly reach the critical stage of her meltdown. Noting the shadows that danced back and forth extinguishing the flames, she was grateful to see that at least all of the participates appeared to be safe. _Safe being a relative term once mom and dad get through with us._

"Mom, we didn't think it would be..."

"Precisely, Rosalie. You didn't think or you wouldn't have done anything this foolhardy."

Rose felt a flicker of anger at her mother's chastisement. She had thought it was a bad idea and had freely shared her views with her mate. It wasn't her fault that he wouldn't listen. "You're wrong, mother dear. **I** was the only voice of reason because **I** did think it out. I didn't think things would go this wrong because I didn't know I lived with such an inept group of individuals but I still figured that they would manage to fuck it up somehow."

"And yet you still took part." Esme stopped and met her daughter's eyes with a look of annoyed disappointment.

"What was I suppose to do?" Rose threw her hands up in the air. "It's not like I can stop anyone from doing what they want to do."

Esme clenched her teeth as she fought to keep her voice calm regardless of her rising irritation. "You could have come to your father or myself and let us handle it."

"Oh, so then I could be the bad guy for getting my siblings into trouble when they hadn't even done anything yet. Jesus mother, do you even listen to what you're saying? Yeah, no thanks. I think I'll skip that disgrace."

Esme inhaled deeply as she closed her eyes and counted slowly in her head. Her daughter was upset, probably worried about her mate, and doesn't really know what she is saying right now. As the authority figure, Esme knew that she had to maintain control so she could sort this entire mess out, make sure that all of her children were safe, and make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.

"Rose, we'll discuss this after everyone has had a chance to calm down. Right now, let's round up the rest of this gang of delinquents and get all of you in the house so you're out of harms way."

Rosalie folded her arms over her chest and huffed in frustration but trailed her mother over to where the action was. As annoyed as she was, she was smart enough to know not to test her mother anymore just now. Watching her family scamper about trying to make sure that their home and themselves were no longer in perile, Rose was hit by a wave of regret. Maybe Esme was right after all. Maybe she should have gone to greater lengths to stop them from going through with this idiocy. How would she have felt if one of her siblings had been hurt...or worse? Watching Jasper douse the last of the dying embers with the garden hose she felt her eyes well up with tears but quickly blinked them back.

"Um, Em?" Her voice was low but it carried over the bustling group. She made a quick mental note that Edward and Jasper had pained expressions on their faces and Alice wasn't looking too happy herself, but her beloved mate...

"Hey, babe." Emmett strutted over towards her with a trouble-free grin on his face. "How did everything go this evening?"

"Better then around here, I see." Esme's voice was soft but icy.

"Oh hey there, momma." His smile faded ever so slightly but Emmett made every attempt to stay upbeat. "Didn't see ya there. Aren't you the fetching cougar about town. You are one red hot momma." He growled playfully.

"Emmett." Esme's normally gentle eyes had grown stern as she stared at her boy.

"Yes, momma." He met her gaze for a moment then hung his head as her tone cut through him. Emmett didn't need to be a mind reader like his brother to know that his mother was well beyond upset and had already dipped her toes in the pool of 'pissed the hell off.' Could it be that his brilliant plan hadn't been so brilliant after all?

"Explain."

"We were just trying to have some fun."

"Fun." Esme nodded her head as she looked around at the scorched earth and shattered glass scattered about reflecting the moonlight. "Fun." Releasing a held breath she took a step towards her lead miscreant. "Your idea, I assume."

He stood shifting uncomfortably under her gaze for several long seconds before muttering a nearly silent, "Yes, ma'am."

Esme nodded again. "Why does that not surprise me, son?" She rubbed her forehead as if trying to ease a headache then looked to each of her children in turn. "Does everyone still have all their appendages?"

She was answered by a chorus of "yes, ma'am."

"They get yourself in the house and upstairs to your rooms."

"Um, mom...," Edward shuffled his feet awkwardly as he avoided his mother's gaze. "Dad told us to get cleaned up. Ah..."

"Then by all means do so." Esme paused for a moment as a frown of confusion creased her brow. "Where is your father anyway?"

**AN:** Poor Emmett. Just trying to have a good time and now momma bear is pissed. Seemed that Rose didn't want to get left out though I'm not sure that fussing at Esme was the wisest decision.

Thank y'all for the comments, adds, favorites... it appears reviews are like air to me. I must have them to survive so keep them coming, guys. LOL. I am curious to find out if y'all think Carlisle needs to step in here and give Esme a hand since we have the entire lot caught up in this catastrophe. I'm sure momma can handle 'em but should she have to? Of course that bear of her's is most certainly going to have his mother's full attention.


	4. A Meeting of the Minds

Carlisle was deeply engrossed in a journal article when the light knock on his study door disturbed his peace and quiet.

"Come in."

A bright smile came over his face as he looked up to see his lovely wife standing in the doorway. He never failed to be intoxicated by her stunning beauty nor could he deny the wonder he felt at her capacity to love him and their odd family; so why did she look less then happy to see him right now?

"Good evening, my love. How was the girls' day out?"

Esme raised a brow as she tilted her head to the side with a strange look on her face. Carlisle couldn't help but feel that this must be similar to how their children felt when they crossed the line and ended up on the wrong side of their mother. He promptly found himself racking his brain to try to think of what he could have possibly done to upset her so. He gnawed on his bottom lip while he thought but continually came up blank and Esme, standing there silently and still, offered no help in solving this mystery. Running out of ideas he finally gave up and decided to go with the direct approach while waving her inside the cosy neatly appointed room.

"What did I do?"

With the the grace of a tigress, Esme walked through the doorway, quietly clicked the lock, and stalked towards her mate. Her fluid motion caused Carlisle to purr softly but a small voice at the back of his head told him that this wasn't about pleasure. Coming around to his side of the desk she leaned against the edge while never once releasing him from her smoldering gaze.

"So, you are just going to torture me without telling me why?"

Esme leaned over as if to kiss his cheek but instead whispered in his ear, "You let them play with fireworks? You should have taught them that whenever you play with fire you always get burned."

Carlisle closed his eyes as he leaned his head back and groaned softly. "I didn't let them play with fireworks. I just over estimated their abilities to recognize a bad idea when one comes up. It would seem that at times I simply give our children more credit then they are due."

When he opened his eyes he was surprised to see a sly smirk on Esme's lips. "You really need to keep a closer eye on them when you are in charge of our menagerie."

"Think you could have done better, huh?"

"Of course. A mother always knows when her children are up to something." She smiled at him as she crossed her arms. "Maternal instincts are never wrong and can never be circumvented."

Carlisle chuckled softly. "Well, those maternal instincts seem to be able to put a bit of fear into that collection of delinquents. One mention of how you might not appreciate what happen to the greenhouse put the fear of God into them all."

"Fear of mom is more like it." Esme laughed lightly as she thought about how her babies must have reacted.

The patriarch reached out and pulled his wife down onto his lap, kissing her gently. "I can understand why they would be afraid. You can be most intimidating when you want to be."

"And don't you forget that, lover." She grinned as she swatted his arm then turned serious with a slight sigh. "What are we going to do with them?"

"Well, you know where I stand but I'll leave that decision up to you. I would caution you to keep in mind that they did destroy property that did not belong to them, your property at that. They also put themselves in grave peril." He exhaled in a huff. "When I heard the explosion and then saw the fires..." He looked deep in her eyes and as he spoke she could hear the dread in his voice. "I know they were looking to have fun but they have a tendency not to see the big picture. They could have started a forest fire. They could have burned down the house. Then of course, they apparently have convenient memories and forget that they aren't precisely flame retardant themselves. Perhaps some fire to their behinds will help with improving their memories and decisions."

Esme often found herself at odds with Carlisle in methods of addressing their children's misbehavior. Her mate seemed to have little trouble when it came to delivering a spanking once he deemed it deserved but she hated the idea of corporal punishment preferring much more non intrusive non-physical forms of shaping behavior. She hated to see her children in any sort of pain or distress which generally caused her to lobby for leniency, but she had to admit that for the more severe offensives a sore backside worked wonders where loss of privilege often failed. When she looked at it logically, if you have an eternity to look forward to a couple of weeks stuck in the house really isn't that great of a deterrent.

Carlisle heard her sigh as she tensed her jaw. She had come to a decision that she wasn't happy with but he knew that after weighing her options she found that it was the best course of action to take. As she met his eyes, her slight nod confirmed his observation.

He patted her gently on the thigh before slipping her off his lap then standing himself. He offered her a reassuring hug then spoke calmly as he started towards the door, "Alright, I'll take care of it."

Her hand wrapped firmly around his wrist halting his progress. Carlisle glanced down at her hand and then back up into her eyes as she shook her head. "No. **We** will take care of it. I don't want them to think that they can do something like this as long as you aren't around to stop them. I want them to know just how much I disapprove of them putting themselves in so much danger."

"Are you sure that you are up to this?" There was no hiding the worry that her mate was feeling.

"No, I'm not sure but I think that it's something I have to do. Besides, one of our troupe thought that she could lie to me and get away with it."

Carlisle raised an eyebrow. This new transgression was news to him. "Alice or Rosalie?"

"Rose. The shopping trip was a ruse to keep me distracted so in as such, it was a lie."

Carlisle shook his head in frustration. His kitten should have known better but then so should have all his brood.

He was still hesitant about Esme's involvement with the children's discipline knowing how hard it would be on her. He struggled with the aftermath of guilt regardless of how much he knew punishment was warranted and he would shield his love from the experience if he could.

"I can still deal with this alone, sweetheart. If you want to make sure they understand your disapproval we can lecture them together and then leave the rest to me," he offered hopefully but was answered by another shake of her head. He gathered his thoughts for a few minutes then asked softly, "How do you want to proceed?"

"Let's gather them in the living room. I think the idea of a tag team lecture to the entire group is sound and it will cut down on us having to continually repeat ourselves."

Carlisle nodded his agreement before giving her a cautious look. "And then?"

"We send them to their rooms and deal with them there." She inhaled deeply while looking down at her hands. "There are five of them and two of us. I'm not sure I can handle ..." Her voice faded off as she already found dismay creeping into her heart about what she was imposing upon herself to do.

"You deal with Jasper and Alice. Neither is likely to try to skirt responsibility for the part that they played. I know for a fact that Alice already has guilt worrying her so she is most certainly not going to fight you and Jasper... well, he just never does.

I'll handle the other three."

Esme couldn't believe that she was even entertaining the idea but she heard her voice before she realized that she was speaking out loud. "No, Carlisle. Emmett is the one who started this and Rosalie lied directly to me. I feel that it would be best if I punish them."

"But, Esme, those are the very reasons that you shouldn't. Emmett, as the instigator, needs to be dealt with very firmly. The same goes for Rose's lying." There was a questioning look in her eyes as she listened to him which caused him to cringe. "I'm not doubting your commitment or abilities, love, I just don't want to see you beating yourself up over this later."

"It's not something that I want to do at all, but it is something that I need to do. I just have to trust that they won't end up hating me when it's all said and done."

Carlisle wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulder pulling her into his embrace as he kissed the top of her head. "They could never hate you, Esme. No one in their right mind could. There can never be any doubt that all you ever do is act out of love. The kids know that. They will respond to it."

He held her tightly for a few moments then gently asked, "Are you ready to do this?"

"No, but the sooner we start the sooner it's over."

Her mate smiled and gave her a little squeeze before releasing her. "You are a wonderful mother. You'll do fine and I'm always right there if you need me."

They headed out into the hallway, his arm protectively around her shoulders. Oh, but this was going to be a long hard night. Carlisle couldn't believe that his children could have come up with something so harebrained that would end with everyone of them in trouble. Usually it was just one misbehaving at a time, maybe two, but they had to work hard for all five of them to be facing the music at the same time. He also still wasn't happy with the idea of Esme taking part of this burden upon herself but he knew that once her mind was set there was little he could do to change it. Did she really have to tackle Emmett? He could understand Rosalie but he simply could not envision his gentle delicate love correcting her baby bear. Something was definitely wrong with the world right now. Perhaps those fireworks had knocked the entire planet off kilter and this was the result. He sighed slightly as he steeled himself for the regrettable task before him.

"Family meeting downstairs in ten minutes," Carlisle called out as he led Esme towards the stairs. Those few precious minutes would give them a little bit of calm and quiet to work out the rest of their game plan. Maybe he would give it one last shot at trying to change Esme's mind about her chosen pair of miscreants before their children joined them and the real fireworks of the night began.

* * *

**AN:** And we are off to the races. Thanks for all the comments and compliments. *grins* Since there was a unanimous interest in putting Carlisle back to work... there ya go. Even though he gets three of the trouble makers, Esme has the challenge of dealing with the worst offenders. Luckily, Momma bear is up to the challenge of showing her cub the errors of his ways. Rose might be a little more difficult depending on how her attitude goes but I'm sure Esme can rein her in.


	5. Confessions

"Aw hell, this is bad."

"You think, Em?" Rosalie gave him a look that could have killed. They were all in serious trouble now and it all started with a simple spark of ingenuity from the bear genius. "What was your first clue?"

Her mate hung his head at her chiding. The night should not have ended like this. The plan was foolproof. He had carefully worked out every detail to be sure that his siblings and he would not find themselves in the situation that now loomed before them.

"Cut him some slack, Rose. It was Emmett's brilliant idea but we all agreed to go along with it so we share the fault equally. No one twisted your arm." Jasper groused as he leaned against the dresser while focusing on his own rampant stupidity. Yep, he had known that this would end up badly. What had he said mere hours ago? _We deserve everything we've got coming._ He groaned at the memory. Though he still found those words valid it didn't make it any easier to accept the consequences of their actions.

"Look guys, I said I would take the heat and I will."

Edward scoffed as he laid across Emmett and Rose's bed plugged into his I-pod trying to allow the music to ease the apprehension building within him. His father's call for the family meeting was off putting enough but the thoughts that Edward picked up from the patriarch concerning what was to come made it difficult to maintain his composure. They had broken one of their parents strictest rules by putting themselves in a situation that could have gotten them killed. That did not bode well for their backsides at all but what disturbed Edward the most was the fact that he wouldn't be afforded the privacy that he was usually granted when he was punished. While they all had their hides tanned on occasion, Edward struggled most with the humiliation that he felt from the knowledge that his siblings would hear the discipline being carried out. To avoid this further suffering in his first born, Carlisle made it a point to assure Edward's privicy by sending the others out of the house but with all of them facing similar repercussions that part of the ritual appeared null and void. Just thinking about it caused panic to well up within the gentle impressionable boy.

Jasper felt Edwards rising agitation and sent waves of calming energy over the entire group. He doubted that his gift would ease them for very long but maybe a little reprieve from their self induced distress would make this "family meeting' go a little more smoothly.

Alice left her mate's side to walk over to her big brother, placing a gentle hand on his burly shoulder. "Em, even if momma and daddy would allow you to take all of the blame that isn't something we could let happen. Jazzy is right. None of us were forced to join in the fun and games so it's only fair that we share the blame equally. Accidents happen," she said with a slight shrug, "and I am sure that momma and daddy are more relieved that we are all alright then they are mad about what we were doing. You'll see. It won't be as bad as we think it will be."

"Oh, it is going to be bad."

Alice glanced at Edward causing him to fall silent as he suddenly regretted his words.

"...but Alice is right. When mom asked if we still were in possession of all of our parts I heard her think about how grateful she was that it was just the greenhouse that got destroyed. If it's any consolation, at least she was only worried about us and I doubt that she is looking to have dad kill us." He looked back at Alice to see if his backpedaling had appeased her but her attention was back on Emmett.

"It will all be over soon and then we can put all this trouble behind us. Even though I will miss sitting down for a little while, I'll let you in on a secret, Em. I wouldn't have changed a thing." Alice gave her brother hug which he returned in kind. "I thought it was a wonderful night and I had a blast."

"Not quite as large of one as the greenhouse had." Jasper shifted slightly as he smirked while a vision of the explosion replayed in his mind.

Edward pick up on his thoughts and found it impossible to suppress a laugh. "It was pretty damn spectacular, wasn't it? Not something you see every day."

Laughter began to fill the room as the tension finally lost a little bit of its strangle hold on the teens.

"Even I have to admit that it was an impressive sight, Em." Rose smiled at her mate. "I believe that you really managed to surprise mom this time so that is a monumental feat. She was speechless when we drove into the yard. You should have seen the look on her face."

A look of confusion came over Jasper as he listened to his fair haired sister and tuned into her emotions. "Rose, darlin', I don't see a reason for you to be nervous. I would be willing to bet good money that you are the only one here who is in good standings with the parents in all of this. Your role was passive, hon. I doubt it even warrants a slap on the wrist."

Glancing towards her "twin", Rosalie let out a slight sigh.

"I will take that bet and be a rich woman, Jazz."

"How so?"

"I kinda went off on Esme."

"Ooo," Edward flinched at the memory that ran through his sister's mind. "Yeah, that ..."

"Yes, Edward. I am well aware that it wasn't my brightest moment," she snapped a little more aggressively then she meant to. Averting her gaze she muttered a quiet, "Sorry. Didn't mean to take it out on you."

Emmett pulled his mate into his strong arms and held her close. "It's okay, babe. I'm in enough trouble for all of us. Once mom gets to fussing at me she will probably forget all about being angry with you." He kissed her gently on the forehead.

A hushed nervousness settled over the group as they became lost in their own thoughts of what had transpired and what was to come of it.

"Man, we are going to be cleaning up glass for a month."

Jasper snorted at Emmett's observation. "At least that long."

"We're going to be paying for that greenhouse," Edward thought out loud, "and the tax taken out of our hides is going to be much worse then the money out of our pockets."

"I feel bad about the plants. Poor things didn't even know what hit them. I hope they can be replaced. Momma had worked so hard taking care of them."

"Alice, recently someone mentioned about a little tropical nursery a few towns over. If we are ever allowed out of the house again you and I can go check it out and see what we can come up with." Rosalie had found her mother's interest in botany fascinating and had taken to spending time in the greenhouse relaxing among the exotic blooms. At least she would recognize most of what had been lost to the fire so there was hope of eventual recovery.

Carlisle's voice abruptly cut through their reflection.

"I suggest you all start making your way down here, now. Ten minutes have come and gone. You really don't want me to come up there to collect you."

"Right down, Pops!"

Empathetic looks passed among the teens before they headed towards the door.

"Dead. So very very dead."

Jasper gave his fretful brother a light punch in the shoulder. "It will be over soon, Em, and then all will be forgiven. Try to think of it that way. Makes it just a tad bit easier to take."

Emmett gave Jasper a weak smile as he nodded. "Thanks, Jazz. I am really sorry that I dragged all of you into this. If I had realized..."

"Em, we knew what was at stake if we got caught but decided to take that chance. Nobody is blaming you. Don't rag on yourself so much. Now come on before papa gets really pissed off."

Jasper slipped around Emmett to meet up with Alice who already stood at the stairs waiting patiently for her mate. When he met her eyes he noted that they were glassy with tears that were already trying to form. Without a word he wrapped his arm around her and gave a little squeeze of reassurance before leading the way down to face their parents. _Yup, Emmett was right. This is not going to be good. We are so fixin' ta get it._

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Jasper's eyes focused on Carlisle standing with his arms crossed watching them intently.

_Damn, but papa looks as frustrated as a one-legged man at a butt-kicking contest._

Carlisle motioned for Jasper and Alice to take a seat on the couch. Edward was already slumped in a chair awaiting judgement. Now there was just his two worst offenders left. Carlisle sighed as Rose darted past him to plop down next to Alice leaving Emmett standing alone seemingly frozen on the last step of the stairs.

"Come on, son. Take a seat so we can get started."

"Pops," Emmett started but halted swallowing nervously before he regained his voice, "Pops, please don't make them pay for my mistake. This was all my idea. If I hadn't kept at them no one else would have been involved. I know it was wrong and I knew it when I came up with the idea so it's me who deserves to be punished but not anyone else. They just sorta fell into my trap."

Carlisle bit back a smile as his son tried so desperately to make a case for acquitting the rest of the miscreants.

"As persuasive as you may be, Emmett, I can't believe that you alone are to blame for this evening's mishap."

"He's not, daddy and we keep telling him that but he won't believe us." Alice looked up at her father pleadingly.

He gave his little princess a nod. "I know, baby." Turning his attention back towards his son, Carlisle spoke quietly but firmly. "Please come take a seat next to Rose, Emmett. I would like to get this over with as quickly as possible and causing delays isn't in your best interest, son."

Emmett lumbered over towards the couch and sat on the arm not wanting to crowd his mate. He knew that she was still angry at him and felt that giving her at least a little space was best in the long run.

Carlisle walked over to stand next to the chair where his wife sat watching her children fidget anxiously. It was Esme who was first to break the silence.

"Emmett, don't answer until you are addressed directly. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Alright, I want to know exactly what happened here tonight. I don't want to hear it from Emmett since his view is slightly askewed at the moment. Jasper, how about you start?"

Esme noticed as Alice reached over and took her mate's hand to offer whatever reassurance she could and smiled slightly at their united front.

Jasper sighed before shifting his gaze from his lap to his mother's eyes.

"Em just wanted to show us all a good time. He put a lot of thought into trying to pull off a firework display that would be fitting any major city. When he first brought it up, Edward and I really weren't keen on the idea but the more we questioned him the more it appeared that he really had all the logistics worked out. It honestly did seem safe enough. Alice and I agreed first since it sounded like a little bit of harmless fun. What could go wrong, right?"

Emmett looked up at Jasper as his own words came back to haunt him. He expected to find a mocking expression on his brother's face but instead he noticed a glint of humor in his eyes as a slight smirk crossed his lips. He would have to be more careful when using that phrase from now on but it was good to find that his brother wasn't going to go into the whole "I told you so" routine.

"Edward proved to be the smartest of all of us. He held out the longest but you know how peer pressure can git ta ya. He and Alice really did stay away from doing anything stupid so that is one good thing."

"You were playing around with dangerous explosives and fire. That alone, without any sort of hijinks is stupid, young man."

"Yes, ma'am but Em and I... well we were the ones to be a might more on the daring side. Kinda proved that we can be dumber then dirt when the mood strikes us."

Carlisle sighed in exasperation then he spoke up softly. "How did the greenhouse's demise come about?"

Jasper opened his mouth to speak but Edward cut him off as he took over the sordid tale.

"We got a little bored with things being too tame so we decided to inject a little excitement into the evening."

"Minor explosions weren't exciting enough so you had to go for a major one?" Carlisle quirked an eyebrow at his son.

"The major explosion wasn't what we were actually aiming for."

"And what were you aiming for?" Esme's gentle voice inquired.

A sheepish expression marred Edward's face as he fell silent while trying to find the words that wouldn't unleash hell upon the lot of them once the gravity of their transgression was acknowledged. _We were aiming for each other, mom. ...yeah, that is not going to get us any brownie points, Edward. Think of something!  
_

"Your mother and I are waiting, son. Spit it out."

"Dad, there is just no good way to spin this."

"Then don't try to spin it. Just tell us what happen...truthfully."

Edward rubbed the back of his neck then look up into his father patient eyes. _He is going to lose it... and why shouldn't he? Good God but we were stupid._

"Alice was not involved at all." Edward stressed gaining a nod of acceptance from his father. "Jazz, Em and I...ah... I so don't want to say this.." He sighed then quickly blurted out, "We decided that it would be fun to have a bottle rocket war." Edward averted his eyes from his parents before he would be forced to see disappointment, shock and anger darken their eyes. _Oh, yeah... DEAD!_

* * *

**AN:** As always guys, thanks for the reviews.

I decided to break this chapter a little but should have the rest up maybe tonight or tomorrow. I'm at work dodging the boss so I am doing what I can. LOL. Just had to get something posted since Emmett has been poking at me all weekend to get to work on this one. I tried telling him that he would rather be getting his shoulder fixed then his behind beaten but apparently he has odd preferences. Strange boy right there.


	6. Momma Knows Best

Esme's eyes grew wide as the implications of Edward's words sank in. She felt a shudder run through her body at the thought of what could have happen to her babies due to their utter foolishness. It was a miracle that they have survived as long as they have if these are activities they considered safe forms of entertainment. A low growl of irritation came from her chest causing Rosalie to look at her in shock.

Carlisle, tilted his head to the side as he narrowed his eyes and glared at his son.

"Excuse me, Edward? What was that?"

"Um."

"So I did hear you correctly. You have indeed lost your mind, boy. What in the hell were the three of you thinking? Do you have any idea how we would have felt if something tragic had happened to you? Any of you?"

"In retrospect it does seem rather ignorant, papa, but at the time..."

"Jasper, I am completely dismayed with your lack of forethought." Carlisle turned on his wheaten haired son as his frustration continued to build. "You of all people should have known better. I expect more from you. I would have thought that being a solider would have given you more respect for what black powder can do. I realize that these are smaller amounts but the potential for serious harm is still there.

It was bad enough when I thought that you were just shooting them off for the display value but now to hear that you were actually shooting them at each other..."

Carlisle pinched the bridge of his nose as he turned his back on his children to try to regain his precarious hold on his temper. A light touch on his arm found him looking into his wife's troubled eyes. Placing his hand on top of hers he patted her gently as he let out a breath that he hadn't been aware of holding.

"In light of this new information, I think it would be prudent to rethink our previous disciplinary plans. This needs to be addressed in such a way that they **never** even consider entertaining a thought like this again."

"I'm just as upset as you are, Carlisle. The plans stand. If I feel the effect isn't being felt as strongly as it needs be to bring about the proper results I will let you know so you can wade in. Does that seem reasonable to you?"

Carlisle ran his hands through his hair in frustration then nodded. "Yes, it's reasonable but don't hesitate to call on me. Don't try to protect them this time, Esme. I know that you will want to but we really need to nip this in the bud."

"I know and we will." She assured him gently as she gave him time to compose himself while she went back to questioning her babies who seemed to have developed a serious death wish.

"So, how did this ill conceived war lead to my greenhouse going up in a blaze?"

Emmett coughed to draw his mother's attention to himself and hopefully give his brothers a slight reprieve. "Mom, may I please be the one to answer that since it really was my fault."

Esme sighed but nodded while Jasper and Edward gratefully slunk back from the spotlight for a few moments.

"We were having fun with the rockets and I was the only one who had them kinda go off in my hand a couple of times since Jasper and Edward are way faster."

"Em, I don't think that is helping your case right now," Rose whispered evenly.

"Um, so anyway. I had just been getting ready to toss one but the fuse was short and it took off before I had it aimed right. Instead of heading out away from me it took off behind me. You know, mom, it was the damnest thing because if I had been aiming I would have never been able to hit it but the rocket must have shot in through the open roof panel because the next thing I knew all hell had broken loose and we had been dropped right in the middle of World War three, four and five.

Jasper ran his ass off to protect Alice and Edward and I couldn't do anything else but back off and watch. It was a sight to behold. Scary but still a sight. We wanted to stop it, really mom, we did, but there was just nothing that we could do. There was no getting close enough to do a thing."

"Emmett, I hate to have to state the obvious but a single bottle rocket is not going to be able to cause that amount of damage to a building."

He tucked his chin into his chest as he softly replied, "It can when it ignites about a ton of other fireworks that are stored in the building."

"Emmett." Esme found herself just as exasperated at her children as Carlisle was. "Are you really trying to tell me that you didn't know that it was a bad idea to be firing fireworks close to where you had your supply stored? Come on now, baby. I know that you are smarter than that."

"It was a complete accident, momma." Alice spoke up in what she hoped would be Emmett's defense. "They were playing around well on the other side of the yard but they got a little carried away with all the running around and they didn't realize how close they had gotten to the greenhouse. They were trying to be as safe about things as they could. I told them to stay away from the greenhouse and they really did try."

"So you warned them about what could happen but they didn't listen?" Carlisle's voice was carefully controlled but they all knew that he was still struggling with his temper.

"I didn't exactly tell them what I had seen. I just made them promise me that they would keep clear of the greenhouse but like I said, daddy, it was an accident. They couldn't help it."

"Alice, do you know how many people I see on a daily basis because of accidents that should have been able to be prevented but weren't?"

"No, sir but I have a pretty good idea." She let her head dip fearing that she may have made things worst instead of better.

Carlisle inhaled deeply holding the breath for a minute before slowly releasing it, sending a small amount of his built up agitation away along with the unneeded air.

"Do we have to tell you all that this is not acceptable behavior?"

He was answered by a chorus of "no, sir."

"Good. Then I believe we can move on from here." Carlisle looked to each of his children in turn noting that none were able to return his gaze. "You are all under restriction for the next month. You will have extra chores to keep you busy while you're house bound and no one hunts without supervision. Since you aren't allowed off the property without either your mother or I with you, there will be no need for driving.

Jasper and Emmett, this will extend your groundings by a month. You both will also receive sterner punishments since part of the conditions of your grounding is not to get in trouble again during it. I haven't decided how this will be handled so just consider yourselves warned for now."

"Why do I suddenly feel six instead of a hundred and sixty?" Jasper whispered to himself as he nervously spun his wedding ring around his finger while he mentally scolded himself for landing in a situation that he had recently sworn he would never be in again.

"Maybe because your actions were those of a child, son." Carlisle who had been pacing slowly before his children stopped in front of Jasper and place his hand lightly on his shoulder. "I am more then happy to treat you like the young man you are as long as your behavior reflects it."

"Yes, sir. Didn't mean to say that out loud, papa. I wasn't questioning your methods. Sorry if it came across that way."

Carlisle squeezed Jasper's shoulder before releasing it. "I didn't take it as a challenge, son. I just wanted to make sure that we were clear."

Jasper nodded and went back to studying his hands while Alice snuggled up against him.

"I'm sure that this comes as no surprise but just to be clear, because of the seriousness of your offenses you will all be receiving a hearty dose of physical punishment to impress your mother's and my displeasure upon your psyche. Hopefully that will keep you from straying down this path ever again."

"I don't know how impressed my psyche will be but I know my ass is going to be extremely unimpressed."

"Emmett, mind your word choice. You're in enough trouble." Esme gave him a stern look but smiled slightly at his comment as soon as he looked away. "Alright, up to your rooms. Your father and I will be joining you shortly."

As the children began to stir Carlisle raised his voice slightly to add to Esme's instructions. "Jasper, I would like you to forgo your room and wait in mine instead. Emmett, you will wait in the study. I am not going to deal with mate protectiveness driven aggression this evening so I want pairs separated. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." Jasper responded knowing that order was mostly directed towards him. He held tightly onto Alice's hand as they headed up stairs, wanting to squeeze out every second of comfort he could get from her presence while he could.

Carlisle and Esme listened to their children's footfalls until the sound of closing doors told them that their hooligans were beginning to settle in to await their executions.

"Last chance to change your mind, my heart. I'll gladly trade you an Alice for an Emmett."

"I can handle him."

"Then please let me make a suggestion. Handle Emmett first. He's going to be tougher to get through to but I don't see him putting up a fight. Rosalie stands to be harder to deal with in the long run since she can be a little more...boisterous. If she doesn't feel that she really deserves to be punished she will fight. Just talk to her. Generally she response well to being reasoned with. If the kitten continues to be obstinate and you get tired of fighting her either let it go until tomorrow since she tends to see things a bit differently once she has been able to "sleep on it" or my offer to turn her over to me still stands."

His wife nodded sadly. "Thank you for the helpful hints, love."

Carlisle thought for a few seconds as he struggled with another suggestion that he knew Esme wouldn't appreciate but felt needed saying just the same. "Esme, you might want to have Emmett turn his belt over to you." Her aghast expression solidified the correctness of his previous thought. "You don't have to. It's just a suggestion because that boy has a butt just as hard as his head. You are going to have to soften it up well to get the message through to him."

"My hand will do just fine, Carlisle." She spoke with such conviction that Carlisle wondered why he had questioned her ability in the first place. She looked at him curiously then asked, "Would you have used a belt on him?"

"If I wasn't getting the response I needed, possibly. I can't...we can't let him do something like this again. He needs to learn to weigh the consequences to his actions better. If blistering his behind with a belt stops him from doing something dangerous just once then it is worth it."

"He won't make the same mistake twice. I'll make sure of it."

A soft sigh came from Carlisle as he admitted defeat to his cherished wife. "I'm sure that you will. Momma always does know best." He placed a soft kiss on her brow then took her hand and started to lead her up the stairs but felt her balk slightly. Panic shone in her eyes as she swallowed hard. "The sooner started the sooner done and then the children have a clean slate. In a way it is a kindness."

"I know. It's just hard." She look up listening to the shuffling of nervous feet coming from what sounded like the study. "Does it get easier?"

Carlisle shook his head. "No, love, it doesn't but it ends up being in the children's and family's best interest so you do what you feel you have to. They got lucky this time and the only thing we lost was an outbuilding. If the entertainment value of their misadventure outweighs the negative effects of punishment they will do it again."

She nodded and took a deep breath before pulling her hand from Carlisle's and climbed the stairs to address her bear's behavior.

"Best of luck, son. You are about to be dealing with one very determined momma. I wouldn't want to be in your place right now." Carlisle took a quick mental inventory then made the decision to visit Edward's room first as he swiftly disappeared up the stairs.

* * *

**AN: **Alright guys, which one of the boys should be put out of his misery first? The instigator or the one who bears the least blame? Let me know what ya think.


	7. Facing the Music

Edward stared down from his window at the star lit black water of the river flowing in the distance. The motion of the water had always been calming to him but this evening its surface would occasionally reflect the colorful display of fireworks reminding him of why he was in this position. What should be the courier of a joyful celebration now did nothing but destroy the tranquility of his thoughts. He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans as he leaned his forehead against the glass and sighed at the trouble he had managed to get himself into.

A soft knock on his bedroom door caused him to suck in a deep breath to steady his nerves.

"Edward, may I come in?"

His father's quiet voice caused him to shiver. So he was to be first. _Great. Everyone will be listening to see how mad dad is. This is just wonderful._ If he had still been human he knew that his heart would be racing. His chest felt tight as it was as anxiety seeped into every fiber of his being.

"Edward, son?"

He swallowed hard as he gathered his voice. "Sorry, dad. Yeah, of course."

Carlisle entered the room then quietly closed the door behind him drawing a soft groan from his miserable looking son. He knew that this was going to be hard on his first born and prayed to get through it quickly for both of them. Edward's body language already spoke volumes. He was understandably nervous but the slump of his shoulders and the fact that he had yet to turn away from the window were clear indicators to his embarrassment at being punished with so many people in the house.

"Edward, I'm sure the others are preoccupied. I doubt that they are going to be overly concerned with what is happening in here." Carlisle walked over to stand beside his son just as the night sky was lit in the distance with a rainbow of colors. "They are beautiful."

Edward grunted as he tracked the shower of glittering sparks. "Somehow they don't seem as great as they did a few hours ago."

Carlisle gave his son a slight smile as he gently placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'm sure the luster isn't gone for good." He carefully watched as Edward shifted uneasily while he dropped his gaze from the window to focus on his fidgeting hands. "Come on, son. Let's sit down and talk." He steered the bronze haired youth towards the lounge then pulled a chair up and sat in front of him.

"Can you tell me why you allowed yourself to become party to this foolishness? That's not like you, son. You are much wiser then that."

Edward shrugged as he kept his eyes downcast. "Guess I'm not that wise."

Carlisle sighed quietly. "Isn't there something that you want to say in your defense?"

"I don't see how it would matter." Edward laced his long fingers together as he tried to still his nervous movements. "Our fun went wrong. About as pretty damn wrong as it could have short of one of us blowing ourselves to kingdom come." He lifted his head slightly to look at his father. "I can promise that I will never do anything like this again regardless of how much Em wants to. I figure after ... well.. just after... I doubt that any of us will be jumping on the stupidity wagon very quickly."

The family patriarch chuckled. "No, that is something that I truly believe and have complete faith in." He patted Edward's knee.

"Dad, is there anyway that I can talk you into putting this off? I'm not trying to get out of it but maybe you and I can go somewhere else or... I don't know. It's just that..." He dropped his head into his hands as the humiliation of being spanking within ear shot of his siblings got the better of him.

"I'm sorry, son. I do understand how hard this is for you but you are going to have to deal with the same consequences as the others. I'm not going to make special allowances for them so it wouldn't be fair for me to make them for you. Does that make sense?"

Edward nodded. "Doesn't make it easier."

"I know, champ but then maybe this will be a little extra discouragement for you when it comes to following your siblings blindly into situations that you know better then to be in. If you don't want to be punished with them the simple solution is not to get into trouble with them."

The boy looked up at his father with a grimace as his hope for a stay of execution evaporated before his eyes.

"I don't think it really needs to be said but you all will be constructing a new greenhouse during your incarceration." Edward nodded mutely as he tucked his chin into his chest. Carlisle gave him a few moments to collect his thoughts then cleared his throat. "Let's get this over with, son."

Carlisle stood then reached his hand towards Edward and pulled him to his feet. "Lose the jeans, Edward."

"Aw, dad."

"Edward."

"But..."

"Now, Edward Anthony. Don't make me ask you again or your siblings over hearing will be the least of your worries."

Edward's eyes grew wide at his father's quiet threat. As badly as he didn't want to give up what little protection his clothing offered, he knew that Carlisle wasn't one for empty promises. With shaking fingers he worked the buttons on his jean free while his father sat down to take his place on the lounge. Pushing the denim over his hips he allow his jeans to fall to the floor.

Carlisle gently caught Edward's wrist and pulled his son down across his knee. Shifting him slightly to get a better grip on the boy, his father spoke softly. "What are you being punished for, Edward?"

"For being stupid enough to listen to my dumb-ass brother."

Carlisle's hand connected with his son's behind with a sharp stinging slap. "That would be incorrect, son and your word choice leaves much to be desired. I suggest that you correct that now before we continue." To emphasize his words his hand swiftly came down again.

"Ow. Alright. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Try again, Edward. Answer my question." He laid his hand lightly on his boy's thigh as he patiently waited for a response.

"I went behind your back and did something stupid that put my life in danger." He buried his face in his arms wishing frantically for this to be over.

"Good, Edward, and what else," Carlisle prompted gently.

"Put everyone in danger and destroyed mom's greenhouse."

"That's right, son and do you understand the severity of your transgression?"

"If I don't now, I'm sure I will soon," Edward muttered in a whisper which was answered with a firm swat. "Yes, sir! Yes, sir! I understand. I do."

"Watch the attitude, Edward."

Edward groaned at his father's admonishment then yelped as Carlisle set about showing his wayward son the errors in his recent behavior. He tried to twist out of his father's hold but found himself snugged tighter against Carlisle's body while his behind began to blaze in pain.

"Ow. I get it, dad. Stop. I won't do it again. I swear. Just please... OW!," Edward pleaded but his father was determined to make sure that this would be a lesson that wouldn't need repeating. The younger man's hand shot back on its own accord in an attempt to protect his behind but Carlisle captured his wrist and pinned it to his lower back.

"You know better, Edward. Another stunt like that and you lose the boxers, too. Understand?"

The boy yowled as a stinging slap struck the tender flesh where rump met thigh. He nodded his head vigorously as he squirmed harder.

"A verbal response, please, son."

Edward shook his head as tears of pain and regret clouded his vision. "Yes," he hissed through clenched teeth. "Sorry, dad. Please stop. I've had enough. That hurts."

"That is the idea, son," Carlisle answered in a gentle tone while his hand continued to pepper his boy's quivering rear end. "If it didn't hurt it wouldn't be much of a deterrent, now would it?"

Edward prayed that his father wasn't looking for an answer to that since his voice was failing as he choked on the thick venom coating his throat while his tears soaked the cushion of the lounge. The more Edward struggled the swifter and harder his father's hand fell until suddenly the boy went limp as sobs racked his body; all semblance of defiance gone.

_Son, why do you do this to me. Don't you realize how much it hurts me to punish you? You were my first companion. I don't know what I would do if something were to happen to you. _"Edward, I love you entirely too much to risk losing you, boy." His strokes slowed but remained firm as he drove his point home where Edward would feel the effects every time he sat for the next day or so. "If I have to spank you everyday for a month to get through to you, I'll do it. You are **never** to endanger yourself like this again. Do you hear me?"

Edward's sobs deepened and he coughed to clear the venom as he gasped for breath to try to answer this father. "Yes...hear you. Sorry, daddy."

"That's my good, boy."

Carlisle's hand stilled for a second then Edward found himself righted on his father's lap as he hugged his thoroughly chastised son close. "It's okay, son. Shh. You're alright. You're safe. I have you," Carlisle whispered as he ran a hand through his boy's hair while his other gently rubbed Edward's back. "All is forgiven. Shh."

Edward clung to Carlisle as he felt his body collapse while the heavy emotions of remorse and grief released themselves through his tears. Cuddled like a small child, he allowed himself the comfort of his father's love as he cried himself out on the man's broad shoulder. Gradually, the boy regained a measure of control and pulled away still sniffling.

Carlisle's golden eyes gently held Edward's as he wiped a tear from the boy's cheek. "Alright, now?"

Edward nodded slightly then hung his head in embarrassment at his display as he wiped at his eyes in frustration. Every time he would promise himself that he would take his punishment like a man but it never took his father long to bring out his tears leaving him feel like a naughty little boy.

"Let's not do this again. Agreed?" Carlisle's voice broke though his son's thoughts.

"Agreed."

Carlisle smiled as he ruffled his son's unruly hair. Gently he helped Edward to his feet then stood himself and gave the boy a last hug before releasing him fully. "Sadly, I have to attend to the rest of my troublemakers but if you need to talk later, I'm here for you."

"Thanks, dad. I'm alright." Edward briskly rubbed his battered backside ruefully. "Or I will be eventually."

His father smiled then gave his son a stern look. "Alright Edward, since you're grounded there will be no music for a week."

"AWW. Really? Please, dad. Come on. Didn't my butt pay enough already for what I did?"

Carlisle cocked an eyebrow causing Edward to glance away. "It's only a week, Edward. I could have taken your music away for the entire month."

"Yes, sir." The boy shuffled over to his desk dejectedly and picked up his I-pod with a sad sigh before turning to hand it to his father.

Carlisle waved Edward away. "Tomorrow."

Confusion shown on the younger man's face.

"I figure it will be useful to you tonight to help block your siblings thoughts. No need for you to be troubled with everyone's worries. Bring it to me tomorrow morning."

Edward looked at the tiny electronic in his hand and was suddenly grateful for his father's forethought. "Thank you."

Carlisle gave his son's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Remember. If you need to talk, you know where to find me," he said before slipping out the door to pay a visit to his next miscreant.

Edward glanced down at the lounge but a twinge of pain in his backside made him give up the idea of sitting for awhile. Donning his I-pod, he walked back over to the window just as another distant explosion illuminated the night sky. With the music soothing his spirit and the "discussion" with his father behind him, the fireworks seemed more agreeable to the young man.

"You're right, dad. They are beautiful... as long as they are over there."

* * *

**AN:** Hmm... well I had thought that I would have been able to get Edward and Emmett done in one chapter. I was wrong. Edward took much more time then I thought he would but at least that is one down and four more to go. Em is up next so... cue Esme! Let's see what a momma bear can do.

Thanks for all the kind words and support, guys. I will do my best to make Emmett and Esme worth the wait.


	8. One Contrite Cub

Esme stood several feet back from Carlisle's study listening intently as Emmett paced about the room. It appeared that his nerves were frazzled as he contemplated what awaited him but she was certain that she was feeling just as nervous as he was; more so, quite likely. She was half tempted to go to Carlisle and tell him that she had changed her mind. He had offered her an out in this unpleasantness after all so it wasn't like this was something that **she** had to do, it was just something that needed to be done.

She leaned heavily against the wall, wrapping her arms around her body for some form of comfort. _Have I bitten off more then I can chew? Maybe I should have asked Carlisle to be here with me._ Her mind wandered for a few minutes as it played through several scenarios. _No, I can do this. Carlisle would have taken over at the first sign of my hesitation. I can't do that to him and I can't do that to Emmett. My baby bear needs to know that I care enough to not let him get away with his recklessness. My God, he didn't even seem to think that having a bottle rocket nearly go off in his hand was something to be concerned about. That cavalier attitude really will get him killed one of these days._

At her last thought, Esme's determination returned in force as she suddenly slapped her palms down on the wall behind her. She heard Alice jump from the sound of the abrupt thump against her bedroom wall but then her focus returned to her son. Emmett's pacing had stopped and she could picture him standing there listening to try and figure out what was happening.

Knowing that at least two of her children were now on pins and needles, Esme forced herself to act. Stepping up to the study's heavy door she knocked gently. Esme couldn't suppress a slight grin at hearing her daughter's soft sigh as Alice settled in safe in the knowledge that her time had not yet come. Emmett on the other hand...

Emmett froze as the sudden thud caught him off guard. If that was the sound of his father laying into one of siblings butts, they were all up a creek this time. He strained to hear what was going on but things outside the room were oddly quiet causing his nerves to prickle more. His concentration was so intense that the soft knock on the door nearly caused him to jump out of his skin.

_Oh, crap. _He inhaled deeply as he gazed at the door. _Calm your ass down. Not like this is your first rodeo._ Emmett smirked as he realized that he had just used one of his brother's sayings. _Wouldn't Jasper be proud._ Slowly he released the held breath willing himself to speak as calmly as he could.

"Yep, come on in, Pops. Aint ready but I'm waiting."

When the door cracked open Emmett was surprised to see his gentle mother standing there in the entrance.

"Oh hiya, momma." He craned his neck to try to look behind her as he searched for his father but it appeared that Esme had come alone. Letting out a sigh of relief, Emmett visibly relaxed. Apparently she was there to lecture him some more, and while he hated having to listen to his faults being pointed out, at least it meant that his behind was safe for a little while longer. "Come in and have a seat if you want. I probably should be sitting anyway since I'm not likely going to be able to here shortly." He gave her his best smile as he sat down on the loveseat against the wall and patted the cushion next to him invitingly. "I'm guessing you want to talk."

Esme slowly stepped into the study and closed the door. She looked at her son comfortably settling into the embrace of the small couch but declined the offer to join him. Walking over to Carlisle desk, she leaned back against it as she crossed her arms with a sigh.

"I'm not really here to talk, Em. I think that most of what needed to be said has already been covered, don't you?"

He tilted his head as his brows knitted in confusion.

"Yeah, I think you and Pops did a good job of going off on us but since you're here I figure there must have been something that got missed." He thought hard for a few seconds before adding, "Can't think of anything else I did though."

"Then how about telling me what it is that you have done to land you into trouble tonight, baby bear. If there is anything that you're missing I'll be able to fill in the blanks."

_Damn it! Now I have to remember what all was said because I don't want to take a chance of adding anything else._ "Um, well of course we're all mourning the passing of your hothouse and all those little green wonders that you had. Really sorry about that, momma. I promise we'll find a way to make that up to you."

Esme nodded. "I know, baby. I'm sure that you all will be spending some time out in the yard with me and it will be bigger and better then ever." She gave her son a warm smile of reassurance before she motioned for him to continue.

Emmett cleared his throat to tackle the hardest part of his self disclosure. "I forced the others to join me in blowing shit up but in my defense no one got hurt."

"Because you were extremely lucky, young man." Esme raised a brow as she looked directly into her son's eyes. "Hold out your hands, Emmett."

The dark haired bulky boy looked much younger then his years as confusion raced along his features. He had no idea what his mother was trying to get at but he did as he was told and extended his hands.

Esme rubbed her eyes as frustration came to the forefront of her emotions.

"Turn them over, Emmett. Palms up, please."

"Oh." He gave her a sheepish grin as he flipped his hands over in compliance.

"Baby bear, what are those dark marks on your hands?"

He looked at his palms and then rolled them back over and rubbed them against his jean clad thighs. The room suddenly felt a little warmer and confined even though the youngster knew that nothing had changed. His head drooped as he found it much more difficult to meet his mother's gaze.

"Em?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"What caused those marks on your hands?"

Esme's heart went out to her precious boy as he shifted around uncomfortably. Her instincts screamed at her to comfort him, to hold him and let him know that everything was okay, but she knew that she had to make him realize the extent of his folly.

Pushing off from the desk, she closed the short distance to her son. Gently taking his chin in her hand she tilted his head up. Emmett continued to avoid eye contact. _Maybe you're finally learning, baby._ "Emmett McCarty Cullen, look at me and tell me what caused those marks."

The sternness of her voice caused him to obey.

"A bottle rocket going off in my hand."

As Esme released her hold on his chin his head immediately dropped down again.

"Are you still going to tell me that no one was injured?"

"No ma'am, but it wasn't much of an injury. I mean there really wasn't any damaged done."

Sitting down next to her son, Esme wrapped her arms around Emmett and pulled him towards her. "Baby bear, if damage wasn't done those wounds would have already been healed. It takes longer for your body to recover from burns then anything else. Yes, even minor burns are something to be concerned about and I want you to understand that you can't do these things; ever. Venom is extremely flammable. It doesn't take much to set it off. Emmy, you put yourself in the worst possible danger all in the name of having a good time. That is just not acceptable."

With his head pressed against her he nodded in accession. "I'll be more careful next time."

Esme tilted her head back as she growled softly. _Carlisle was right about this boy having a hard head._ "Emmett, there will not be a next time. If I ever seen anything flammable in your hands..."

The boy slunk back slightly out of his mother's embraced. He had never heard her take that tone and while he hated to admit it, he found it a bit frightening.

"I'm sorry, momma. You're right. There won't be a next time. I promise. I'll never do anything like this again." His eyes were wide with worry. The last thing he needed right now was an angry Esme to end up talking to Carlisle and getting his butt in deeper trouble then need be. "I promise. I really do."

Esme stood and paced a bit before returning to her previous place against the heavy hardwood desk.

"You know what, baby bear, I believe you because I'm going to make sure that you never want to break that promise to me." Her eyes were unusually hard and her tone firm. "Come here, Em. There is no point in putting this off any longer." She nodded towards the desk expectantly.

_What is momma talking... OH HOLY SHIT!_ "No." He shook his head as his wide eyes reflected the bewilderment that consumed his brain. "No, no, no. This isn't right. No, momma. You can't."

Esme took a deep breath then answered calmly, "Yes, I can and I will, baby bear. The only question is how hard do you want to make this?"

"But, momma..." His words ceased as his brain quickly caught up to what was happening. _Shut up, you damn fool. This is better. Carlisle will take your hide clean off. Esme is a soft touch. Go with the flow, dude. You're getting off so much easier if you just shut the hell up._

"Come here, baby. Don't fight me."

Emmett's huge eyes turned sad and watery as he silently pleaded with his mother for leniency.

"Not going to work, Em. Come on. Front and center." Esme struggled to keep her voice soft and even, disguising the trepidation she was feeling about carrying out this mission. Her baby looked so sad. How could she do this to him? She kept reminding herself of Carlisle's words about how she would have to make this punishment count or her baby might end up pulling the same stunt again. The idea of him being hurt was the only thing that kept Esme determined to carry out this dreadful act, but she still feared that their relationship would end up suffering. _As long as I can know that he is safe, I guess I can live with him hating me._ With that dark thought in her head she watched as her baby boy lumbered towards her with his head hung low.

Emmett approached the desk then stood silently as he waited for Esme to move. He knew from much too much experience that he would be required to lean over the desk and accept what he had coming; the only problem right now was that his mother was right in his way.

"Emmy, you're are going to have to undo your pants, sweetheart."

He looked up and simply stared at his mother, dumbfounded. A shake of his head told her that he wasn't in agreement with this latest revelation.

"Baby, I'm not asking you to bare your backside because I know how uncomfortable that would make you but I'm not going to spank you through jeans. Now, do as I ask or I will take them down for you and I won't promise that your shorts wouldn't follow if that has to happen."

"Momma." His voice came out in much more of a whine then he would have liked but Emmett was finding his discomfort growing by the second. "Can't we come to some other understanding?"

"I wish we could, baby bear. Right now you should consider yourself rather lucky because your father suggested that I ask for your belt instead of trying to use my hand to get through to you. I don't think that should be necessary but if you keep questioning me..."

He sighed in defeat as his head dropped. Slowly he freed his belt then unfastened his jeans fully aware that if he had been able to blush his face would be an astonishing shade of red. "Momma, you are going to have to move if you want me to bend over the desk."

Esme scooted up on the desk and turned towards her son slightly so that her left leg was fully supported by the smooth wooden surface before she patted the desk top.

Emmett cocked an eyebrow as he looked from the desk to his mother and back again.

"Emmy, you're too big for me to put over my knee comfortably so this is the next best thing that I can think of. You still end up over my knee but you can have the support of the desk and a bit more freedom of movement."

He groaned but positioned himself as best as he could. _No use fighting it at this point. Might as well just get it over with. Shouldn't be too terrible anyway so what's a little humiliation, right?_

Esme pushed her son's pants down to his knees then wrapped her arm around his waist drawing him closer. Fragmented memories of her as a little girl turned over her father's knee flashed in her head. She had never hated her father so maybe Emmett wouldn't end up hating her; at least it was something to hope for.

"Alright, baby bear?" At his nod she raised her hand and brought it swiftly down in an arc that caught the under curve of his right cheek.

"Holy SHIT!" Emmett pushed up from the desk, easily breaking her hold, as he danced away holding onto his rear. "Damn, momma but that hurts. Where in the hell did you learn to do that."

Esme watched him quietly as he brought himself back under control. "Em, have you just taken leave of your senses?"

Her softly spoken question caused a mortified expression to come across his face. "Yes, ma'am. I think that I did but I'm better now." He hung his head slightly as he retook his position across the desk and over his mother's knee. "Won't happen again."

His mother grasped his waist again but this time locked her arm tightly before releasing a volley of swats to her baby's clenched backside. It didn't take long for Esme to settle into a rhythm that took her from cheek to cheek and top to the very bottom where all the nerves seemed to collect.

Emmett hiss and moaned as fire raged on his butt making him question why he had ever thought that tonight's events were a good idea. He had known that he would be punished if he was caught and he knew what course that punishment would take but it hadn't been enough to dissuade him at the time. Now the it had become a reality his brain berated him for his stupidity. He almost wished he had been killed since that had to have hurt much less then this.

"Emmy, I never want to have to do this again but believe me when I say that I will."

His breath caught in a gasp as the first sob broke from his throat. Emmett's knuckles had turned even paler shade of white as he clung to the edge of the desk for dear life, all while praying that he didn't break it.

"I don't want you to do this again either, momma. Believe you, me," he managed through gritted teeth as tears welled up in his eyes. He would have never believed anyone if they told him that Esme could spank this hard. Where had his sweet, soft-hearted mom gone and who was this woman who had taken her place? _Shit!_

Esme shifted her attention to the back of her bear boy's thighs and the underside of his bottom. She grimaced as he cried out when the pain intensified, hating herself for causing his grief. Without warning she heard his fist slam into the desktop then his body stilled while silent sobs caused his shoulders to shake slightly. She stopped her assault instantly as tears filled her eyes at her son's suffering.

Gently she rubbed her son's back trying to ease his tension. "It's okay, baby bear. We're done. It's all over." _Thank God._ Leaning over, she laid her cheek against Emmett's back as she hugged him. "I love you, baby."

Emmett sucked in deep breaths to try to calm himself as he continued to lay against his father's desk. The light pressure of his mother against him was reassuring as he fought against his tears. As his eye began to clear he was greeted by a vision that brought a new wave of concern. "Oh damn."

Esme sat up and placed her hand against her baby's shoulder. "What's wrong, Emmett? Are you alright?"

"I'm okay, momma but the desk isn't." He pushed himself up and pointed to the dent caused by his fist. "Now dad is going to bust my ass, too." He moaned loudly at the thought.

Esme laughed a little as she pulled her son into a hug. "No, he won't. I'll explain it to him. You'll see. I know how to tame that savage beast."

Emmett wiped his eyes as he pulled back from his mother's embrace. "You know how to tame me, that's for sure." He rubbed his behind then pulled his jeans back up, wincing as they brushed against his sore skin. "Seriously, where did you learn how to do that?"

"Oh, I picked up a little bit here and a little bit there. Just because it's not my preferred method for dealing with my children's shenanigans doesn't mean that I can't tan your hides when the need arises." She smiled gently then seriousness and sadness shown through her eyes. "I hated doing that, baby bear."

"Probably about as much as my butt hated it." Emmett nodded.

Esme looked down as she took a deep breath then looked up to meet her son's eyes. "Emmy, are we alright?"

He cocked his head to the side with a questioning expression. "Why wouldn't we be, momma?"

She closed her eyes and swallowed hard before giving voice to her fears.

"I hurt you, Em. Can you still love me after that? I'll understand if..."

Her words were interrupted as she was lifted off of the desk and swung around in her burly son's arms.

"You can't be serious." He laughed as his eyes twinkled. "Of course I love you. You're my momma. What's there not to love?"

"But I..."

"Gave me what I deserved? Yeah you did. Dad would have done the same." He gently released her on her feet so he could rub away some of the sting. "I would have never thought ... well never mind, but safe to say that I'm not going to be looking to cross you anytime soon. You do pack a mean wallop." He grinned at his mother doing his best to lighten her mood.

Esme smiled as her son's contagious good humor got the best of her. "So I didn't need to use the belt to get my point across?"

Emmett snorted. "No, ma'am. I got your point loud and clear. This is one boy who is not going to play with anything that flamms, ever again."

She found herself giggling at his odd word choice. "Well, that's good. I don't know what I would do if anything happen to you, baby bear."

"What could ever happen as long as I have you and dad looking out for me?"

"I don't know, Em but you seem to be a magnet for trouble."

"It's a gift." He smiled widely as he gave Esme a little mischievous wink.

With a shake of her head she smiled then ruffled his dark curly locks. "What to do with you, son?"

"Love me?"

"Always."

Esme hugged her bear again then placed a light kiss on his cheek before she sighed. "Baby, I have to go have a little discussion with Rose so you can either hang out in here until I give you the okay or you can go downstairs. Your father and I haven't spoken about the game consoles but I'm going to say that for now they are off limits. And whatever you do, stay in the house."

"Yes, ma'am." He shifted a little uncomfortably then added, "Um, momma, don't be too hard on Rose. I have a bad feeling and don't want to see either one of you pissed off or hurt. You know? Besides, she really didn't do anything as bad as the rest of us."

She brushed her hand against his cheek softly. "This is between Rose and me, baby but I do appreciate your concern and will take it into consideration."

"Okay, momma. Thanks."

Esme gave him one last smile then turned to leave but as she stepped though the door his words stopped her.

"Momma bear? Good luck."

She looked back over her shoulder at her sweet baby boy. "Thanks, baby. I think I'm going to need it."

* * *

**AN:** Longer then I thought but.. there y'all go. Hope it lived up to expectations. I do believe that Esme took Emmett by surprise.

Thank you all for the fantastic comments. They are all loved and greatly appreciated. Not sure if I'm going with Jasper or Alice next. I'm thinking Alice but, as always, I'm open to suggestions.

IMCullen, I just wanted to let you know that I did think about poor Edward being on his own while the others have a mate to lean on. I had originally planned on having him stuck in his room for the night but then realized how unfair that would be to him so he is free to move about the cabin and will by the time this thing wraps up. ;-) Guess I might have to find a way to tackle Bella at some point.

And to Edward being a wimp. I didn't really see him that way though he is the artistic sensitive type so that might be where that comes from. Frankly, I thought it was pretty gutsy to backtalk Carlisle when Edward already knew his butt was on the line. I think of myself as rather brave and I would never do that. *grins* ... just wanted to respond so you can know what goes on in my strange little brain. ... it is a scary place.


	9. Major Trouble

Carlisle wandered down the hallway towards his and Esme's room. After careful deliberation, the patriarch decided that Jasper would be his next detainee to correct. Neither Jasper nor Alice were particularly hard to handle, but Alice had a tight grip on his heartstrings that made punishing her a traumatic emotional experience. Reason also stood that if Jasper was nursing his bruised pride in the form of a stinging behind he may be a little less apt to interfere when it came time for Carlisle to reprimand his petite princess. The elder trusted that his son learned from his mistakes, but he just wasn't willing to risk having a confrontation that could potentially be avoided with a little forethought.

As he closed in on the room he caught sight of his loving wife leaning against the wall near the study door. Before he could speak she covered her face with her hands and slide down to sit on the floor, head cradled to rest on her drawn up knees.

Carlisle was on his knees at her side in a flash. "What's wrong, Esme? Are you injured?" He reached out and gently rubbed her arm.

"No Carlisle, I'm fine. I'm just suddenly very tired." She looked up to meet his troubled gaze and gave her loving mate a brief smile adding, "and my hand hurts."

He laughed a little as he pulled her into his arms bringing her head to rest lightly on his shoulder. "Emmett?"

"He's fine, too. A little worse for wear especially around the seat of his britches, but he'll survive."

"I had no doubt about that, love. Em has the ability to bounce back like a rubber ball. I was just wondering if he was too hard on you; not the other way around. "

"He was my brave boy which made it a little easier on me. Caught him off guard and it took a little while for him to figure out what was going on, but once he did he really wasn't much trouble." Esme eased herself from Carlisle's embrace as distressing thoughts plagued her mind. Exhaling softly, she closed her eyes and ran her hands through her thick golden brown hair then looked back at her lover. "How do you do it, Carlisle? How do you stand the strain?"

He smiled weakly as he sighed then kissed her nose. "It's not easy, sweetheart but it is part of the responsibility that I agreed to when I decided that what I wanted most in this world was a family. I would prefer that our children be perfect and not get into mischief, but then things would get boring rather quickly. We just have to be willing to take the bad with the good but thankfully the good outweighs the bad by a very large margin." Carlisle cocked his head as he again considered the position his mate had put herself in this evening. "Why don't you go and comfort Edward. Leave Rosalie to me. You have nothing to prove, love."

"I have something to prove to myself. I want to be a mother to our babies in all the ways they need me to be; even if it hurts sometimes."

"I understand, but Rosalie can be much more than a handful. She is the hardest of our children to rein in and…"

"And she lied to me. She deceived me and was disrespectful towards me. I should be the one to address her disobedience."

"If you would like I can come with you to give you some support. That could make things go a little smoother. Perhaps you could help me with Jasper and then we could pay Rosalie a visit together."

Esme smiled at him as she shook her head.

"You don't need me to get in the way with Jasper and I really think it would be best for me to do this on my own, Carlisle."

He stood then extended a hand to help his wife to her feet. "You are so incredibly stubborn, sweetheart. I now know where the children learned it."

"Don't blame that on me, Carlisle Cullen. You have a stubborn streak that goes on forever and you know it. You're not fooling anyone." In spite of their grievous predicament Esme giggled softly as she kissed her mate before slapping him lightly on the arm. "Go on. Don't keep Jasper waiting. He'll only get more nervous which isn't fair to him."

"Call if you need me. Don't allow her to get you upset. Rosalie is a very talented young lady when it comes to that and if she gets the upper hand it's hard to regain your position of authority."

"Carlisle, you worry too much." Esme patted his cheek then headed towards her daughter's room.

"Oh, if only that was true, love." He walked the short distance over to the bedroom door and knocked quietly.

* * *

Jasper sat in an overstuffed arm chair as he shifted uneasily. He had been torn between taking a seat on the bed or the chair, but the heavy scent of his parents on the bedding made him more uncomfortable than necessary. The thoughts of what went on in that bed caused his stomach to lurch.

"You're being stupid. It's not like your biological parents having sex. Hell, son you've got fifty one years on your ma for crying out loud. She is a fine young woman. It would be much weirder if they didn't… well." He shuddered miserably. "I should have asked to switch with Emmett. Papa's office looks much more inviting right about now."

The light knock which would normally have filled him with dread was a welcome diversion from his disconcerting thoughts.

"Please come in, Papa. Seriously, please join me."

Carlisle walked in and gave his son a bewildered look. While Jasper did generally readily submit to correction without much drama when he knew that he was wrong, he had never known the boy to appear eager to see him on such a mission. "Are you doing alright, Jazz?"

"As well as can be expected, papa. I would just really like to expedite things so we can get this over with as soon as possible."

"You have somewhere to be?" Carlisle propped a hip against the dresser while crossing his arms over his chest.

"No sir, but I would like to be back with Alice in our room. It's a comfort issue."

Carlisle was still perplexed by his son's odd behavior, but as he carefully continued to consider Jasper a sudden thought occurred. "Oh."

If Jasper still possessed the ability to blush his face would have been beet red. As it was a phantom heat seemed to burn his cheeks causing him to lower his head as he studied the scuffed toes of his boots. He attempted to distance his thoughts from his surroundings and the ideas that must have been passing through his father's mind.

Carlisle coughed and turned away from his fidgeting son as a smile grew on his handsome face. He did his best to hide his amusement from Jasper, but the boy still detected levity in his father's voice. "I'm sorry, son. I didn't realize that you would find these particular surroundings so upsetting. You know it's just a normal biological response to…"

"Please! Please, stop. Carlisle if you are trying to torture me you are succeeding in spades. I swear I will never even look at another bottle rocket ever again. I won't go outside or near a window for Forks' New Year Extravaganza. The next 4th of July I will gladly stay locked up somewhere far away from the festivities. I promise not to watch firework displays let alone ever shoot them off again. Just please don't elaborate on what you and mom… Just don't."

Walking towards Jasper with a grin on his face, Carlisle ruffled his son's hair as a soft chuckle escaped. "I am going to guess that having you lean over the bed is going to be out of the question."

Jasper turned his large amber eyes on his father with a desperate pleading expression.

Carlisle rubbed his face as he tried to suppress his merriment and regain control. This was a serious infraction which needed to be addressed that would soon cause Jasper a very different form of discomfort. He closed his eyes and drew a breath before looking back to his son who, for his part, quickly turned away from his father's gaze.

"I am sorry, Jasper. I never meant for this to be awkward for you. Please accept my apology for the lack of consideration." Carlisle cleared his throat before continuing in a more solemn tone. "Now we do need to address tonight's incident. Really son, what were you thinking?"

"Wasn't."

"While I fully agree with that response there had to have been some thoughts behind your actions. You are far too responsible to participate in such an ill-advised scheme on some whim."

"Emmett and Alice have a way with words when the planets align just right. I knew that it was dangerous and reckless." He snorted slightly as he thought. "I knew that we were highly unlikely to get away with it. Maybe I just didn't want Alice getting into trouble on her own because her mind was made up. She and Emmett were going to pull this stunt with or without help from Edward or me. I just couldn't allow her to get hurt so I joined the hootenanny while completely aware of the risks involved."

"But to go as far as to aim at your brothers… I'm sorry son; I just can't comprehend that at all. How would you have felt if Edward or Emmett had been seriously injured with you being the cause?"

"Probably a touch worse than I feel right now just thinking on it." Jasper looked up to meet his father's eyes. "Papa, you can't be any more disappointed in me than I am in myself. I did know better. I let myself get talked into participating in the entire thing, but the worse part of our entertainment was something that I joined in completely on my own. It sounded like fun. Emmett did no arm twistin' there. It was a product of my own prideful stupidity. Now Alice was against it, but I refused to listen. I even helped talk Edward into it. If he had lost a hand or worse, it would have been entirely my fault."

His father nodded then placed his hand on Jasper's shoulder. "I expect you to be more responsible. You have a level of maturity that is sometimes lacking in your brothers. Use it. When you know something is wrong stand by your convictions. I don't know that you could have changed Alice's mind, however it would have been better to lead by example instead of following along with what you already knew would put your mate in danger. You are very protective of Alice but in this one case you failed her and one moment of letting down your guard is all it takes for disastrous events to occur."

Carlisle's words stung Jasper. It was true. He had failed in his promise to always protect Alice. He knew that there would be times when he would have to protect her from herself and he had to be stronger if he was going to keep her safe. Heaving quietly he allowed his head to fall in disgrace.

A gentle pressure beneath his jaw caused Jasper's head to rise until he faced his father.

"Regret is unavoidable, but there is no reason for self-pity. What you need to do now is accept this folly for what it is and take from it the lessons it offers. Learn from your mistake, Jasper."

"Yes sir, I will."

Carlisle glanced around the room considering his options then offered his hand to help his son up. "Let's clear the slate, son."

"Papa, please don't…"

"I'm not going to force you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable."

Jasper stared at his father for a few seconds before snorting softly. "Kinda late on that front but if that's the way you feel I'll just be going now."

Carlisle cuffed Jasper lightly on the back of the head. "You know what I mean." He nodded towards the cedar chest that currently served as a window seat. "A bit too much like kissing the gunner's daughter to put you over it but I think we can make do with just having you lean on it.

Jeans down, son. When you're ready go ahead and put your palms flat on the top. Whatever you do Jasper, don't break that thing. Your mother will have both of our hides if anything happens to that chest."

"Yes sir." His fingers worked at unfastening his pants while he glanced at the antique chest. "No pressure there."

"Well, it's the only place I can say that your mother and I have not engaged in any…"

"I got it! No need to go any further."

Jasper swiftly got into position allowing the old smooth wooden box to support his weight as he looked out of the window finding peace in the close darkness. A movement reflected in the glass drew his attention as his father stepped up to him placing his hand against Jasper's back. _Damn, this sucks. Don't think I need a visual of this._ Jasper closed his eyes as he waited for his spanking to begin.

The wait was over quickly as Carlisle's hand descended sharply then settled into a strong steady pace. Jasper gritted his teeth while trying to concentrate on his breathing and the placement of his hands. He knew it would be only too easy for him to claw into the wood to gain a better hold but the risk of facing his mother's fury kept that concept unfulfilled. The boy stomped his foot as the stinging intensified. His father answered with a smack to his son's unprotected thigh.

"Keep both feet on the ground, Jasper. I know that you can control yourself better than this."

The younger man sucked in a breath before a groan broke from his throat. _But that freakin' hurts, Carlisle! _The breath hitched in his chest as tears came to his eyes before he managed to whisper, "Trying, sir."

"I know, son." Carlisle shifted his focus to the lowest spots of Jasper's posterior so his son would be sure to feel the effects of his foolishness any time he tried to have a seat. The sound of his hand striking the boy's backside filled the room as he stepped up his tempo until another sound caused the venom in his body to suddenly chill. With hand halted in mid stroke Carlisle's voice softly broke the abrupt deafening silence. "Jasper, what was that?"

"It…. It didn't break, papa." The boy's tears found their release though he wasn't sure if that was due to his regret for having put himself and the others in danger or if it was the sudden apprehension he was feeling at now putting his father and himself in a much more dangerous situation. He kept his hands on the chest, afraid of what might happen if he moved. "I tried… I really did. I didn't mean to."

"Sh, it's alright. It was an accident. Let me see the damage."

Jasper slowly stood with his father's assistance and moved a little to the side to clear the way. He watched in muted terror as Carlisle crouched down and traced his finger along a large crack in the dark weathered wood that hadn't been there moments before.

Wiping at his tears only to have more fall, Jasper moaned as his still heart broke at the thought of his mother's anger. "Momma is going to kill me."

Carlisle stood and wrapped his son in his arms. "Shush, Jazz. Your mother is not going to kill you. It was an accident and all you were doing was following my orders. She may kill me but even that is unlikely…I think." He ran his hand through the boy's hair as he attempted to sooth the lad's worries. "We'll take it into town together and see if we can get it repaired. If it isn't able to be restored…well this just adds to its character."

Jasper pulled slightly back from his father as his glassy dark golden eyes stared at Carlisle in stunned silence.

"Or maybe not but everything always works itself out in the end, son. Don't worry. It doesn't accomplish anything but to add more stress which is something that we can all do without."

Carlisle hugged his boy close again while he gently rubbed his back. Gradually Jasper began to physically relax even if his mind refused to follow suit. The patriarch leaned back to look into the boy's face. "Feeling any better?"

Jasper nodded. "A touch. Still more nervous than a long tailed cat in a room full of rockin' chairs but I don't think that's gonna fix itself anytime soon."

"No most likely not." Carlisle kissed the crown of Jasper's head then ruffled his hair. "Try not to think on it. I'll talk to your mother and somehow we'll make it right."

Fully releasing his son from his embrace, Carlisle took a couple of steps back and crossed his arms as a stern expression formed on his face. "Alright Jasper, we weren't quite done here but in light of the new development I'm inclined to let you go and call this lesson learned. Do you agree with my assessment?"

"Yes sir. I'm not looking to do anything like this ever again." Taking his father's words as a cue, the boy quickly redressed before Carlisle could have a change of heart.

"Good. Now we do have one other issue which would be the fact that you and your brother were both grounded at the time of your indiscretion. Much like a convict who has earned parole, you are supposed to be on your best behavior when you are on restriction. If your behavior falters then severe consequences result."

Jasper sighed heavily then nodded in accession. "Yes sir that seems logical."

"Since we are in agreement I would like to see you and Emmett in my study after I get home from work tomorrow evening. I ask that the two of you come up with a couple of ideas that you feel would be appropriate repercussions. I will say that I have not as of yet come to any hard fast decision so I will be considering you input. I want you and Emmett to really put some thought into this."

"I take it that a mild chastisement in the form of a slap on the wrist is not going to be appropriate."

"Um, no. Your creativity should reflect the severity of your misdeeds."

"Yes papa. We'll think of something."

Carlisle shifted then let out a quiet sigh. "Okay son, I want you to go downstairs and stay there until called. Under no circumstance are you to put one foot on those stairs before I have given you the all clear to return. I can and will make you regret it should you decide to disobey me in this."

"You're going to punish Alice aren't you?"

"Yes I am and I won't tolerate any interference."

Jasper averted his eyes and swallowed back the venom that rose like bile in his throat.

"Son, this isn't any easier for me to do than it is for you to let it happen. Please believe me when I say that. The only reason that I can follow through is because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to her. She could have been killed. Neither of us can watch her all the time so I have to make sure that she thinks twice before putting herself in harm's way again. You just have to trust me on this."

"I do trust you and I do understand what you are saying but…"

Carlisle placed his hand on Jasper's shoulder. "Her behavior and lack of sense will be addressed but she will not be harmed. My duty to all of you is to offer protection and guidance. That's all that will happen."

"I know." His voice sounded weak and hollow in his head but Jasper nodded as he shrugged his father's hand from his shoulder before slipping out the door.

_God, please give both of us the strength to see this though. _Carlisle's silent request went out as he followed after his son to greet his most trying task of this extremely long day.

* * *

**AN:** Yep, Jasper got off rather lightly but it will catch up with him the next day. If anyone has any ideas of how they think Carlisle should handle this extra bit of disobedience, I'm open to suggestions.

Thank everyone for your continuing kind reviews and support. It means so very much. Thanks to Splinter for catching my errors. Any that are left are purely my own doing since my eyes are getting tired. Sorry guys.

For anyone interested or confused by Carlisle's reference to "kissing the gunner's daughter"... That is an old naval (Particularly the British Navy) punishment that saw a sailor bent over and tied to one of the ship's cannons to be flogged by the Boatswain. It was probably used much earlier, but it was a popular form of punishment at sea during the 1700s and early 1800s.


	10. Nipped In the Bud

Lying across her bed, Rosalie sighed as she gathered her thoughts in an attempt to form a defense. Yes, she had been in the wrong to go along with Emmett's plan to keep Esme occupied and if she were being honest with herself, yelling at her mother was most likely not the best idea, but she hadn't done anything as damning as the rest of her siblings. Her parents' main issue appeared to be the whole "putting yourself in danger" deal which was something that she had no part in. She was safely in town shopping with her mother when her mate's idiocy kicked into overdrive so she was never in any sort of danger. That had to count for something.

Her father was always open for discussion before he would take any action against her, so she just needed to steer his lecture in the right direction. Surely he would give her credit for maturity if she admitted that she was wrong on those two little accounts. He might not even know that she had snapped at her mother so he may only be concerned with her misdirection which really wasn't that bad of an offense. She knew from experience that she had Carlisle wrapped around her finger to a great extent. As long as she played her cards right she should be able to get out of this faux pas with just a lecture; after all, she was already being grounded and forced into hard labor with the others. Rose just couldn't see any reason that her father would feel the need to punish her further. Yes, she would wiggle out of his one unscathed as long as she stuck to her reasoning and didn't allow her emotions to run away. Carlisle was a reasonable man and she would counter with reasons of her own. She could do this. She had to do this because the other option was in no way acceptable.

A quiet knock caused her to look up towards the door. Inhaling deeply to calm her mind for this battle of wits, she sat up on the side of the bed and called out for her father to enter. Much to Rosalie's shock, it was her mother who stepped lightly through the threshold.

"How are you feeling, Rosalie?"

The young girl's brows knitted in confusion as she stared at her mother. "I'm alright, Esme. Thanks for asking. Was there something that you needed?"

"I believe that we need to talk about what happened this evening," was the simple softly spoken response that caused a feeling of sudden despair to grip Rosalie firmly.

"Where's Carlisle? He is usually the one to lecture. I mean you both hit on all the points of issue downstairs but if there is more to be said, shouldn't he be here as well?"

"Rosalie, this is going to be between you and me. You lied to me and you were quite rude. I do think that it's my place to correct you since I was the one offended."

Rose's eyes narrowed as she glared hard at her mother standing so passively near the door. "You have got to be kidding me. There is no way in hell that I'm going to let you punish me. Don't be asinine, Esme. What makes you think that you have the right…?"

"The fact that I'm your mother gives me the right; or more to the point, the duty."

Rose folded her arms defiantly. "Well then I relieve you of that duty so you don't have to worry with it anymore. Go on, Esme. You can leave now. I already know that I made a mistake and I won't do it again. There is no need for you to trouble yourself on my account."

Esme monitored her breathing to keep it slow and steady even as she fought against a tightness in her chest that was brought on by her increasing anger. _She is shocked, just like Emmett was. She doesn't realize what she is saying. You have to remain calm. Remember what Carlisle said._ Exhaling forcibly, she returned her daughter's unflinching glare.

"Rosalie Lillian, you will not take that flippant tone with me. I don't know how you talk to your father, but I will not tolerate this flagrant disrespect. I am appalled at your behavior of late, young lady. I would suggest that you correct your attitude before you make things worse for yourself."

Rose stubbornly continued to glare at her mother but when Esme showed no signs of backing down, the younger woman suddenly averted her eyes.

Esme continued to watch her daughter in silence for a few moments. Rose had dropped her open challenge but maintained a stiff stance as she refused to relinquish control to her mother.

"Mom, please don't take this personally but let dad and I work it out. That would be best for everyone."

A wave of calm filled the room causing Esme to breathe it in deeply but Rose responded much differently.

"Jasper, get the hell out of here!"

"Heard the ruckus and just thought that I might be able to help."

"Well you're not helping so get the hell away. I don't want you around here," Rose spat in anger at her unseen 'twin.'

Esme raised a brow at her errant daughter's outburst then opened the door to find her son standing quietly in the hallway. She sighed softly as he turned his large bright eyes towards her. He was clearly worried about the interaction between her daughter and herself. For a second a voice in her head wondered if Carlisle had given their son the suggestion to intervene in what they all knew would be an emotionally charged situation, but she quickly silenced that idea. This was just Jasper being Jasper; wonderfully caring, but maybe occasionally just slightly too caring for his own good.

"Jasper, I do appreciate your thoughtfulness, but this is a private affair and should be kept that way. You were afforded as much privacy as possible; it's only fair to respect Rosalie's privacy. If your father has released you, I'm sure he gave you some instructions which did not include spying on your sister. I suggest that you follow those directions unless you feel the need to have another little chat before the night is through. "

"No ma'am, I don't think I would care for that. Sorry." He leaned slightly around his mother to meet his sister's eyes. "Sorry, Rose. I'd say that I didn't mean to butt in but… well I did because I thought it would help ya. Won't happen again though." As he turned to leave, he stopped dead and looked back over his shoulder at Esme. "Momma, you aren't going to…. I mean, you're not…"

Esme tilted her head slightly as she looked into her boy's eyes.

"Oh, well now that there is something new to worry about." Jasper swallowed hard as his confusion gave way to understanding. "I'll just be going now." His feet quickly carried him down the stairs and out of sight before Esme had time to close the door.

"Doofus." Rose rolled her eyes as her brother departed. "Why can't anyone in this family mind their own damn business?"

"Alright Rosalie, that is enough of the inappropriate language. I wasn't planning on washing any mouths out tonight but I can always make an exception if that's what you need from me."

Rose glanced at her mother through narrowed eyes as she tried to decide if Esme was being serious then shook her head. "That's okay. Don't want to stress you out any more."

"Glad to hear that you are going to be gracious enough to give me that break." Esme crossed the room to sit down next to her fair haired daughter. Resting her hand gently on the girl's knee she spoke softly, "Why did you go along with this foolish plan? I understand that you didn't want to share what Emmett's silly plan with me because you wanted to protect him, but you knew that this was extremely dangerous for him and your siblings."

"It was dangerous, but I thought that once he got it out of his system everything would be fine. I didn't have any idea that he was going to come up with a worse idea, nor did I ever imagine that Jasper, Alice and Edward would go along with it. Emmy being an idiot is something that most of us have come to expect, but everyone else usually has more on the ball. I thought they would look out for him." Rose looked down at her hands in her lap. "He was just so excited. It is really hard to tell him no when he gets like that."

"Sometimes you have to, Rose. It's never easy to say no to someone you love, but when it's for their own good, well you just have to." Esme tapped her daughter lightly under her chin. "Look at me, Rosalie." When their eyes met she continued calmly. "You can't rely on the others. The only person that you can rely on when it comes to doing the right thing is yourself. If something like this should ever happen again, please come and tell Carlisle or myself. I know that you don't want to turn your siblings in and certainly not Emmett, but trust that we can be discreet in heading off disaster."

Rose scoffed at the idea of telling her parents anything about Emmett's future misadventures.

"Rose, it would be better to protect him from doing some sort of damage to himself while also saving Em and whoever else is involved from ending up in worse trouble. Isn't that at least worth taking a chance on? If you don't trust Carlisle, at least trust me. I can always blame mother's intuition and who could deny the power in that?" Esme smiled as she patted Rose's knee softly.

Rosalie returned her mother's smile briefly as she nodded before her expression turned serious. "Mom, what Jasper implied…did you really mean…" The young woman who was never known to be at a loss for words in her life fell silent.

Esme sighed deeply as she watched her daughter looking grim and a little frightened. "Yes Rose, I'm afraid that I do mean to follow through with what you had already assumed. You knew the risk of how your father would have handled this; I have to follow the same pattern for it to be effective. I'm starting to think that none of you actually take me seriously. I never wanted to have to take this route with my children, but this case is serious enough to warrant it. Extra chores or writing an essay on how to behave properly just doesn't seem to be a feasible option this time. A much stronger deterrent appears to be in order."

The girl's head dropped at the sadness in her mother's tone. She wanted to argue and tell her mother how wrong she was for even considering what she was proposing, but her respect for Esme was far too great to allow for that. Carlisle had always possessed the ability to make her feel bad as he pointed out her misbehavior, still the grief in her mother's voice made her feel so much worse.

"I'm sorry, mom. I really did know that I shouldn't have taken part in any of this."

"You were dishonest with me by concealing your intentions and once we arrived home you were shockingly disrespectful. Sweetheart, those are two of the worse transgressions that you can commit. You need to learn to control your temper; think before you speak."

"Yes ma'am."

Esme felt her nervousness come alive as she realized the time for talking was done. _Now I wish you hadn't listened to me, Jazz__.__ Could have used your help right about now__._ The matriarch took a breath and cleared her throat as she did her best to project authority that she wasn't particularly feeling into her voice.

"Rosalie, I would like you to unfasten you slacks, please then come lay over my lap."

Rose's brows furrowed as she looked at Esme and shook her head. "No mom. Not like that."

"Yes honey, this is the way we're going to handle your behavior. Now come on so we can get this over with."

"NO!"

Heaving a sigh, Esme stood and took her daughter's wrists as she pulled the girl to her feet. Rose began to struggle in an attempt to jerk away from her mother, but Esme's grip held strong.

"No mother, you can't do this. Not this way. Let me go. Please, just let me go! You don't need to do this."

The more the girl struggled the more determined Esme became in seeing this through. "Rosalie, calm down. You're acting like I'm going to kill you. Listen to me, baby. Settle down now and we'll get through this together as quickly as possible so we can move forward."

With her beautiful blonde daughter glaring at her, Esme took her seat back on the bed, half dragging the girl to stand before her.

"Rose, I'm going to let go. I want you to stay right here. The more that you fight the harder this becomes for us both."

"Mother, I don't want this."

"Sweetie, you gave up having a choice in the matter as soon as you agreed to go along with Em's plan."

Esme carefully relinquished her hold on her daughter's wrists then reached for the button on Rose's pants only to have her hands slapped away.

"Keep your hands off of me. I don't need help."

"Rosalie."

A shiver ran the length of Rose's spine at her mother's softly voiced disapproving tone. How could Esme make her suddenly feel so childish with one word; and her name at that? Nearly without a conscious thought, her fingers appeared to move on their own in compliance with her mother's request. She held her head high as she clung to the last strands of defiance but her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

Esme patted her lap in an inviting manner that caused her daughter to roll her eyes. "Really, mother?"

"Would your father go about this task differently?"

The girl stood staring in silent contemplation then shook her head before lowering her body to lay over Esme's lap with a deep sigh. Rose buried her face in her arms in humiliation as her mother tugged her pants down her thighs before encircling her waist to secure her daughter firmly.

"Baby, you were disrespectful and dishonest. Would you agree with that assessment of your behavior this evening?"

Rose nodded. "Yes, mom."

Esme found her daughter's voice oddly subdued as she accepted the account of her misbehavior. Placing her hand gently on the young woman's back, she rubbed her shoulder to establish a connection and hoped to help soothe her nerves.

Rose blinked back her tears before closing her eyes tightly. "I'm alright. Just do it. The longer you wait the harder it gets." She turned her head to look over her shoulder giving her mother an annoyed glare before sneering, "for both of us."

Esme inhaled deeply before she brought her hand down hard on her daughter's rear. A slight intake of air was the only sign that Rose had felt her mother's effort. The stubborn prideful woman tensed as her mother eased into a rhythm that bounced from cheek to cheek and top to tender undercurve leaving no inch of her little girl's backside untouched. Rosalie felt tears stinging her eyes but she refused to allow them to fall. She was not sure if her motives were defiance in not wanting Esme to know that she was being affected by the chastisement or if she was denying her response in an attempt to save her mother from being emotionally scarred from this event, but the reason didn't really matter. All Rosalie knew was that she would withstand this without the expected unnecessary drama. Physical pain was nothing new to her. She would handle it and soon it would be over and allowed to fade into memory.

Esme's hand began to sting horribly as she continued to deal out her daughter's punishment. Carlisle had mentioned that she shouldn't stop until her miscreant submitted through tears or the release of tension, but she wasn't sure that she could outlast Rosalie. The girl had locked down her emotions nearly entirely and now her mother feared that by following Carlisle's instructions she would cross over into what could only be abuse.

"Rosalie, you have to relax. When you tense you cause worse pain to yourself."

Her daughter took a shaky breath to answer, "I don't care."

The slight waver in her voice and the breath spoke volumes that she didn't want to share with her mother. Esme knew that she was indeed getting though her daughter's sturdy wall but she would have to make her talk to finally break it down. As long as she was allowed to remain uncommunicative, she would block her emotions but interaction breached her defenses.

"I'm disappointed in your, Rosalie. I thought that we had a good relationship built on mutual respect, but it seems that I was mistaken." She delivered a firmer swat to punctuate her words.

Rose shook her head as she gritted her teeth. "I do… I respect you, Esme. You are more than a mother to me." She inhaled deeply then quickly blurted out, "You're my best friend." The girl squeezed her eyes shut as her tears threatened to overflow from the emotional admission.

"I'm not sure that you mean that, Rose. You might believe that you do, but your actions tell a different story." A tear rolled down Esme's cheek as she pressed her daughter a little harder.

"I do mean it, momma. I made a mistake. I never want to be disrespectful towards you." Esme heard Rosalie's voice catch as her carefully maintained control began to crumble. "You don't deserve that." The girl sniffled as she bravely tried to hold back the tears, but her battle was already lost. "Neither you nor Carlisle deserve to have to deal with our useless asses. You should have better family. Your own family instead of having to adopt the stupidity that you got stuck with."

Rose found herself pulled up and cuddled in her mother's lap. "Rose, I'm not stuck with anyone. You are all my family by choice. I couldn't ask for more wonderful children." Esme raked her fingers through her daughter's long blonde hair as she cradled the girl's head against her shoulder. "Don't ever think that you aren't precious to me, sweetie. I love you, Rosalie. You are my daughter, but talk like that again will really get you a sore backside."

Rosalie's tears soaked through Esme's blouse as remorse and shame burst through the cracks in the protective walls she so carefully built and tended. "I'm so sorry, mom. I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you."

"Shh. It's alright baby. You've paid for your mistakes. Everything is forgiven." Esme held Rose tight while she slowly rocked back and forth to comfort her daughter until her tears dried leaving her hiccupping quietly.

Rosalie pulled away until she was able to ease herself off her mother's lap and stand to replace her clothing. She hissed as her pants rubbed against her stinging skin. "Think I'm going to be feeling that for a while." She rubbed at her burning butt then lowered her eyes in embarrassment. "I shouldn't have broken down like that, mom. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"You didn't make me uncomfortable, baby. You don't need to put on a brave front for me. I know that you're a very strong woman but even the toughest needs to be comforted from time to time."

"I guess."

"Don't guess. I won't lie to you, sweetheart and I don't want you to lie to me. If you feel that I don't appreciate you, I need to know that. You're my life, Rose and I don't want that fact to ever be a question in your mind."

Esme could tell that Rose was getting increasingly more uncomfortable so she decided to let the matter rest. Getting to her feet she moved towards her daughter. Taking the girl in her arms, she hugged her close then leaned back and brushed her golden hair from her baby's forehead before releasing her.

"We are done here, baby. Slate is all clear."

"Does that mean that I'm not grounded?"

Esme laughed softly. "I'm afraid a spanking doesn't wipe that away."

Rosalie managed a smile as she nodded. "I know but I had to try."

"You want to come down stairs with me?"

"I think I would like to stay here for a while, momma. A little alone time will help."

"Okay sweetie. I can send Emmett up if you'd like."

"I'll call him up in a little while. Right now I just need to decompress."

Esme nodded then kissed her daughter's forehead. "If you need to talk…."

"I'll come to you."

Her mother gave the girl's shoulder a squeeze then turned towards the door before Rose's voice called out to her causing her to smile.

"Momma, I really do love you."

* * *

**AN:** Rosalie and Esme ended being much more of a challenge then I thought they would be. Rose has a respect for Esme that surprised me. Seems that she is more likely to give Carlisle trouble then momma bear. Makes me rethink that dynamic. *nods* And at some point Esme backed off because she got herself caught up in the idea of spanking an abuse victim.

Well, just hope this ends up making sense. All I can say is thank God Alice is next. She will go much easier on me. As always, y'all's input is greatly appreciated. Thanks for hanging in there.

Special thanks to Splinter for the proofing. She is one awesome beta.


	11. Pesky Penitent Pixie

Alice paced her room as snippets of various visions assaulted her. If what she was picking up was true, then their mother had decided to take a more hands-on disciplinarian role which didn't bode well at all. They all adored Esme, but Alice was only too well aware of how they occasionally would take risks around their amiable mother that they wouldn't dare around their father. Esme's punishments were always fairly benign, but what Alice had heard and seen in the last hour or so challenged that assumption. The young girl shivered at the prospect of having to face her upset mother.

The firm rap on her bedroom door brought a sigh of relief as her heightened senses picked up her father's scent. Her relief was short lived when she recalled the disappointment in his eyes earlier this evening. They had really screwed things up badly and there was no way that she wasn't going to be brought to heel for the part she had played.

"Alice baby, may I please come in?"

She allowed herself a momentary reprieve as she considered her response. Could she actually keep him out? That was highly unlikely so she resigned herself to her fate and softly answered, "Sure, daddy."

As soon as Carlisle stepped through the door, he found Alice in his arms as she stumbled through apologies with her face pressed against his broad chest.

"I'm so sorry, daddy. What we did was plain dumb. It will never happen again. I know that I should have stopped the guys from blowing up the greenhouse, but I just didn't know how. Sorry daddy. Really. I don't know what possessed us to think it was a good idea. You know what they say; it's all fun until someone loses an eye. I told Jasper to make sure that they didn't shoot each others' eyes out. Guess I should have told them not to shoot the glass either. It just seemed so unlikely that just the right circumstances would occur for that to happen."

Carlisle stayed silent as he listened to his daughter ramble on while he held her close. He ran his fingers through her short dark hair comfortingly. He wasn't sure if she had reached the end of her apologetic explanation or had just come up for a breath, but when she quieted he spoke softly, "I know you realize that your fun and games were wrong, baby girl. Sh. It's going to be alright, sweetheart." He kissed the crown of her head then led her over to the bed and sat, pulling her onto his lap.

Alice snuggled up against him with her arms wrapped securely around his neck.

"We didn't mean to destroy anything. You believe me, don't you?"

"Yes honey, I believe you. The problem is that your intentions really have little to do with what ended up occurring. You knew that I wouldn't approve of what you were doing, but decided to do it anyway. That shows a little lack of respect, don't you think?"

Carlisle pushed his princess back slightly so he could look in her eyes. Gently he brushed her hair out of her face, tucking a strand back behind her ear. "You also put yourself in serious danger, young lady. You know all too well how I feel about that."

Alice tucked her chin into her chest, refusing to make eye contact with her father. "Yes, daddy. I wasn't able to sit for a couple days after the last time I got myself into a dangerous situation. I know all too well what approval rating that carries."

"Uh huh, and yet the lesson apparently wasn't learned as well as I had thought."

Suddenly the girl's head shot up as a bright smile formed on her lips. "Then that means spanking me didn't work so you'll have to try some other method, right?"

Carlisle smiled as he shook his head. "Nice try, princess."

"Well doesn't it make sense to try something else? No point in flogging a dead horse, daddy."

"I wasn't planning on flogging a dead horse, baby. I was planning on making a lasting impression on the rear end of a thankfully very much alive young lady who doesn't seem to want to listen to her daddy. I will entertain other options if you can convince me that they will prevent you from ever, and I do mean ever, putting yourself in danger again. The only thing I can think of that would accomplish that would be locking you up so you can't do anything without supervision. "

Alice's eyes went wide at his words. "You would do that?"

"No princess, you know me better than that. It's hard enough to ground you short term because you look so miserable when you aren't allowed to go into town. I'm just saying that is the only way I could be certain that you would never come to harm. Since that isn't an option, I have to fall back to the next best plan which is to try to make a strong enough impression on you that I can be sure you think twice before running head first into a situation that can get you hurt."

Alice considered her father's words carefully as her mind flew while trying to find some flaw that could save her behind. "Daddy, you know I would never lie to you."

Carlisle raised a brow at the statement.

"I try never to?"

"Yes, baby. I'm sure that you do your best to be honest with me, but this has what to do with the topic of discussion?"

"Isn't it obvious, Daddy?" Alice rolled her eyes at Carlisle's inability to follow her simple logic. With a soft sigh she continued, "Since I don't lie to you, if I say that I will never do it again…" She nodded as she allowed her words to drift off so her father could catch up on his own while a smile of triumph played on her lips.

"Alice, what did you tell me during that last time that you just mentioned?"

The smile slowly faded before she glanced away from Carlisle's expectant expression.

"Mhm, that's how I remembered it also, princess."

"But Daddy!"

"I'm sorry, honey but your track record isn't exactly stellar."

Alice pouted slightly as she crossed her arms in a huff.

Carlisle sighed. Sometimes his little girl really did live up to that perpetual teenage attitude. He tapped his knuckle lightly beneath her jaw causing her to glance up and meet his eyes.

"Mary Alice, I suggest that you rethink that attitude. I'm sorry that you don't like hearing what I have to say, but maybe that's because you know I'm right."

Alice deflated at her father's gentle reprimand and looked away with a slight nod. "Sorry," was her whispered response.

"It's alright, baby." Carlisle gave Alice a quick hug before slipping her off his lap onto the bed to sit beside him. "Alice, I think it's safe to say that you are well aware of what you did wrong."

His dark haired pixie nodded. "I did something that I knew was dangerous. We all could have been hurt and it was only because we got lucky that we're okay. I'm also really sorry that we ruined momma's greenhouse and I know that it could have been way worse." Alice looked down avoiding her father's gaze.

"Yes it could have, Mary Alice. I'm glad that you recognize that fact. I don't want to supervise you like a young child, but I will if that's what it takes to keep my family and home safe. I know that you're a responsible young woman so please act that way." At Alice's nod, Carlisle continued quietly, "Part of being responsible, sweetheart, is accepting the consequences for your actions without all the theatrics. If you feel that I'm not being fair with you, by all means speak up, but if you can't in good conscious say that, then I think it's time to address your behavior."

Without further prompting, Alice got to her feet and stood in front of Carlisle with her head bowed. Her pitiful stance tugged at her father's heart. Ducking his head to catch her eye, he gave her a slight smile. "It's not the end of the world, princess." He offered his hand which she hesitantly accepted and allowed herself to be eased down over his lap.

"It is the end of my behind, though."

Carlisle chuckled softly as he repositioned his hold and flipped Alice's skirt up over her lower back. "Your mind always makes it out to be worse than it is."

"Humph. You can say that because it's not your butt." She squirmed a little before wrapping her arms around his thigh then tensed in expectation.

"No, but it is my hand, and I must say that tonight all of you have taken a serious toll on it."

The strength of Carlisle's first stroke caught Alice a little off guard causing her to squeal. "Ow. Too hard, daddy."

Carlisle ignored her protest as he set about to see to it that this time the lesson would be learned, but by the fifth blow he was shocked when Alice went limp across his knee. Panic over took the patriarch as he scooped his little girl upright in his lap, concern shining in his eyes.

"Baby, what's wrong? Are you alright? Talk to me, sweetie. What happened?"

Alice's eyes were bright with unshed tears but she appeared no worse for wear. "I'm okay, daddy."

"Then what just happened that caused you to collapse, sweetheart? Is something hurting you?"

"My tail, but it's not too bad. Just a little stingy. I'm sure I'll live."

Carefully, Carlisle lifted Alice from his lap and stood her before him. Cocking his head to the side he looked her over quickly with a physician's trained eye then, finding nothing out of the ordinary, he crossed his arms over his chest as worry gave way to frustration.

"Mary Alice Cullen, explain yourself."

Alice fidgeted nervously and kept her eyes downcast as she spoke, "I was only thinking of you, daddy."

"What was that about never lying to me? The truth, if you please."

Alice began to wish she could curl up and hide somewhere. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but it hadn't played out at all like she had hoped that it would. Fingers beneath her chin forced her head up until her father's stern eyes locked on hers causing her to cringe.

"I'm waiting, Mary Alice."

"I was thinking about both of us, I guess. I wanted the spanking to be over and I didn't want your hand to have to go through anymore trauma today." The youth swallowed back venom and a touch of fear before she could continue. "I know that once I stop fighting … Well, daddy once my body gives up, you stop spanking me. I figured if I gave up at the beginning you would figure that I had learned my lesson and wouldn't spank me anymore. That would save your hand and my butt from some pain that neither of us wanted."

Carlisle heaved a sigh as he rubbed his eyes. A part of him wanted to laugh at his daughter's cleverness, but a larger part was frustrated by her bratty attempt to manipulate him in an attempt to escape punishment. Getting to his feet, Carlisle grasped Alice's elbow firmly and led her into the nearest corner delivering a strong smack to keep her in place.

"I'll be right back and I expect you to be here with your nose in the corner. "

She sniffled as she nodded her head before leaning her forehead against the wall. Satisfied that she would mind him, Carlisle slipped out of the room only to return within seconds locking the door behind him. Siting on the bed, Carlisle willed himself to calm while he studied his daughter. "You are too smart for your own good, little miss."

Alice gave a little whimper in reply.

"Come here, baby. Let's try this again." The teen shuffled over to her father until she stood before him once again silent and contrite.

"Alice, look at me." Carlisle sighed as she was slow to comply. Once their eyes met he took note of the regret that her little game caused her to feel. Along with regret there was also fear mixed with sadness reflecting in her eyes. "We are going to do things a little differently this time, angel. Suffice to say that stunt was more than a little foolish. I won't be manipulated, baby girl and you are about to understand just how serious I am when it comes to something like that."

Taking her wrist in his hand he once again pulled her down over his knees. His grip was much firmer this time as he pulled her tightly against his body. She tried unsuccessful to relax as her skirt hem was tucked into her waist band, but when her panties were tugged to her knees, Alice began to struggle in protest.

"No daddy! Please don't!"

A sharp sting blossomed across her backside causing her body to tense as she hissed at the pain. It didn't take long for Carlisle's attention to her behind and upper thighs to cause her tears to flow freely. "Daddy, please no more. I won't do it again. I won't."

"What won't you do, Alice? Why are you getting this particular spanking?"

"I'll never try to manipulate you again."

"That's good, baby because that is a serious hazard to your rear end and what did we say about putting yourself in danger?"

"I won't do it. I swear." Alice kicked, squirmed, and twisted, but there was no breaking her father's iron hold. The harder she fought the firmer his strokes became until Alice's cries turned to soft whimpers as she reached a point of true submission.

When Carlisle felt her give in to her punishment, he lightened his blows.

"Baby, don't try this again. Put that clever mind to work on something more appropriate."

Alice nodded as she wiped her eyes against his pants leg. When his hand stilled, the girl gave a sigh of relief, but her respite was short lived as she felt something firm and cool press against her stinging cheeks. "Daddy?" Her voice squeaked as anxiety crept into her tone.

"I'm sorry baby, but you will remember this one and keep in mind that you were the one who was worried about saving my hand from further damage."

Alice screeched as the stroke burned her already painful behind. The shock caused her to make one last bid for freedom, but with the majority of the fight already taken out of her, she soon passively accepted her punishment. Much to Carlisle's relief, a half a dozen blows and the ordeal was finally over. He allowed the leather soled slipper to drop to the floor as he rubbed his daughter's back to offer comfort. As carefully as possible, he pulled her panties back up then freed the hem of her skirt, wincing at her whimpers as the fabric touched her skin.

When Alice had regained enough control to try to get up, Carlisle lifted her and cradled his little girl to his chest. His baby wrapped one arm around his neck while the other hand clutched his shirt tightly as though she was afraid that he would disappear.

"You're alright, angel. I have you." He cooed softly as he placed his cheek against the top of her head while his hand continually rubbed her back. "It's all over."

"Daddy, what…"

He kissed the top of her head then pushed her back just enough to look her in the eye. With a sad sigh Carlisle brushed a tear from her cheek before pulling her back into his embrace. "Extra incentive to make sure you behave yourself, baby. I don't plan on having to put either of us through this again."

"It hurt, daddy."

"I know that it did, baby. I would have been more surprised if it hadn't."

They both fell silent as they took comfort in each others forgiveness, but once Alice's crying had completely stopped she whispered into Carlisle's neck, "I will never suggest that your hand needs a reprieve ever again."

Carlisle laughed at the levity that Alice had managed to inject into a serious moment.

Sitting up, Alice noticed the slipper which lay abandoned on the floor. "Oh crap, are those the slippers that I gave you for Christmas last year?"

"Uh huh."

"Well those things need to go. The only thing that you are allowed to wear around the house will be those plush moose hide moccasins. Only soft and fuzzy footwear in this house from here on out. Maybe I can work some sort of deal with the mutts."

Carlisle's eyes twinkled with amusement. "Stay out of trouble and that doesn't need to be a concern." He smiled as he kissed his baby's cheek and was delighted to have his smile returned. "How do you feel? Are we alright, now?"

"Oh, of course, daddy." She gave him a final hug then slid from his lap, yelping as her butt skidded off her father's thigh. Alice danced from foot to foot as she vigorously rubbed at the stinging burn that had just begun to ease.

"Going to have to be a bit more careful, sweetie." Carlisle grinned as he stood and headed towards the door. "Do you want to come down with me or should I send Jasper up to you?"

"I'll come down." She bounced on the balls of her feet as she continued to rub. "You know that wouldn't have stopped him."

Carlisle gave her a puzzled look then realized what she was referring to as he reached for the lock. "I know that it wouldn't have, but I had hoped it would have discouraged him long enough to make him think before he could act."

With his arm wrapped around his daughter's shoulder, Carlisle opened the door to find a southern nightmare glaring angrily at him.

"Then it did wha' cha were aimin' fer it ta do."

Carlisle stiffened slightly but kept his voice calm. "You are supposed to be downstairs, Jasper. I didn't call you up here."

"Mah Alice was the one who done the callin'."

"Calm down, Jazzy. Daddy didn't really hurt me. I'm okay. Let's all go downstairs and relax a bit. It has been a really hard day on everyone." Alice slipped from Carlisle's arm and hugged her solider boy tight hoping to give him some reassurance, but Jasper continued to stare into his father's eyes challengingly.

"Jasper, you and Emmett have something to be working on for tomorrow if I'm not mistaken. I suggest you get to it and drop this senseless attitude this second."

Jasper's hands were balled up in fists at his sides as he lowered his head to protect his throat and let out a low growl.

Carlisle's eyes darkened and narrowed at his son's challenge.

Alice grabbed her mate's face between her hands and forced him to break eye contact with his father and look at her. "No, Major Whitlock. You don't need to do this. I know that you want to protect me, but Daddy is not a threat. All he wants to do is protect me also and sometimes that means protecting me from myself just like he does with you. He has never hurt you so why would he hurt me?"

"Son, you aint got the brains God gave a billy goat. Sorry, Pops. I was trying to keep an eye on him but he got away from me when my back was turned. Momma thought it would be best if I come check on you both." Emmett stepped towards Jasper ready to subdue his brother is necessary.

"I appreciate your thoughtfulness, Em." Carlisle gave a slight nod to his bruin while keeping his eyes on Jasper. "Alice, maybe you and Jasper should stay up here for a little while until he calms down."

Jasper's head whipped back around at his father's voice and their eyes locked again.

"I think that is the best idea, daddy. Come on, Jazzy."

For several human heartbeats Jasper and Carlisle continued to stare each other down then, without warning the boy looked away submitting to his father's authority.

Giving a nod of acceptance, Carlisle stepped out of the doorway and headed down the hall with Emmett in tow hoping to find comfort in Esme's arms while his son's soul found peace with Alice.

* * *

**AN:** And now all of the little Cullens have paid for their little misadventure. Sometimes Alice is a little too playful for her own good, but she answered a question that I have long asked myself while reading disciplinary fiction; if they stop when you submit, why not submit sooner? ... apparently with Carlisle that isn't necessarily a wise idea. Wonder if it would work on anyone else though. Hmm.

Now to let the family have a little bonding time and give Emmy and Jazz some time to consider their options for the rest of what Carlisle decides they deserve. ...and with Jasper just having to bristle up at Carlisle. Tsk tsk.

Thanks to Splinter for the proofing and thanks to everyone for your kind words and continuing to follow along on a side story that ended up taking on a life of it's own. *hugs*


	12. Best Laid Schemes

The silver jeep bucked slightly as it slowed and pulled off to the side of the road.

"Jasper, what are you doing? We're going to be late to school. Don't you think we ended up in enough trouble already? I know I'm not looking for more." Edward groused from the backseat.

"Just hold your horses, Edward. I won't be a moment. I just noticed something that I need."

Alice's soft gasp drew both boys' attention as she reached her hand out to grab her mate's arm. "Jazzy, I don't think that's a good idea. I really don't."

"It will be alright, darlin'. I came to this decision last night. My mind is made up so I might as well get it together while the gettin' is good."

Edward looked at his siblings as he tried to decipher their code when he suddenly picked up an image from his brother's mind. "Have you lost it, Jazz? You DO NOT want to do that. Trust me."

Jasper turned around catching his brother's wide panic stricken eyes. "This isn't about what I want to do; it's about what is right and this feels right."

"Fuck that! It's not going to feel right tonight when we get home; in fact it's going to feel anything but right. Trust me on this one, bro. That is quite possibly the worse idea ever. Emmett has come up with some damn bad ideas in his time, but I think you have blown him smack out of the water with this one."

Jasper sighed as he stepped from the jeep to collect his road killed treasure. Within seconds he was seated back behind the wheel with his find firmly tucked away in the back where it would eagerly await his attention. "I know what I'm doing, Edward."

"Jazzy, you're confused right now. I can feel it. I think it would be best if you think of something a little less..." Alice blinked as she tried to carefully choose her words. "...nasty? brutal? extreme? I don't even know what you would call that apart from seriously bad ouchy."

"That's a very professional description you've got there, Alice."

"Can you do better, Edward?" She raised an eyebrow as she folded her arms across her chest.

He felt the need to argue, but suddenly didn't see the point. "No, I suppose you have pretty much covered it."

As Jasper pulled the truck back out onto the road he mumbled mainly to himself, "Y'all act like it's your behinds it will aim to for bruisin'. This is mine to do alone and this is my way to clear the slate with Papa."

"And what are you planning on doing? Are you just going to hand it to him like that?" Edward met his brother's glare in the rearview mirror.

"No, Eddie, for your information I am planning on refining it a bit before this evening."

"Jazzy, you're not thinking of skipping class to do that are you? Daddy won't be happy at all if he finds out that you did something like that," Alice lightly scolded her husband as she watched his mind churn away.

Jasper shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he let the thought dissipate. "Suppose not, but I have my shop class that I can do this as a personal project in and then there is my free period. If I can use some of the tools in shop I can get it rough cut quickly then I can whittle away with my knife as I find time during the day."

This time it was Edward's turn to be aghast. "You are not thinking about bring a knife into the school are you? You realize just how much trouble you would be asking for with that, right? That is a death wish act right there."

He eased the jeep into a space next to Rose's convertible and switched off the ignition before crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at his brother once again through the review mirror. "I aint stupid, Edward. I know what I'm doing and I would kindly thank you to stay out of my head."

"I don't believe that you do know what you're doing. No one with a lick of good common sense would hand something like that to dad, period; sure as hell not when they know that their ass is on the line. And yes brother, I do know what you had just been thinking. If you try to sneak that Bowie knife into school, you will get caught. Alice, can you back me in this?"

As both Edward and Jasper turned their attention to the dark haired pixie, she averted her eyes and slowly nodded before whispering, "And nothing good would come from it."

"No, shit. Jasper if you try to pull something like that you will get your ass tossed out of school so fast your head will spin and you would be lucky if Charlie Swan didn't lock you up for carrying a weapon. Then what? Oh wait, I can tell you; mom and dad will be furious because you would have broken some major rules leaving you facing punishment that will make last night seem like an amusement ride."

The wheaten haired youth sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "Fine, Edward. I get your point. The knife stays in the car. Does that make you feel better? If you keep riding me about this we're not going to make our first class and then your original issue will come about." Jasper got out of the jeep before his brother could respond and walked around to open the door for his mate.

Taking her hand in his as he tucked their books under his arm he asked quietly, "Darlin', do you happen to have any duct tape."

With a smile Alice nodded. "You're in luck, Jazzy. I have a roll in my locker."

"Great. I will need some to wrap the handle so it will be a little easier on Papa's hand."

"Will wrapping the entire thing make it easier on the butt?" She shivered a little at the thought of the possibility of getting a taste of Jasper's creation herself one day. Alice didn't think she had ever felt more grateful for her gift of foresight than she did at this moment.

"It would probably take a couple of rolls to pad it up enough to make a difference and even then, I highly doubt it would do much good."

Alice stopped just as the bell rang, "Knowing that this thing is going to be that bad, why would you want to make it? Daddy is not cruel, Jazzy. That really isn't something that he would have come up with on his own."

"That's why I have to do this for him, sugar. He isn't cruel at all so he won't use it harshly. Papa told me that my creativity in coming up with a fittin' punishment should reflect the severity of my offense. I think this does that."

"But, Jazzy."

"Sh." He leaned over and kissed her to silent her protests. "Trust me, now let's get to class before we both get into trouble and as you and Edward have pointed out, I don't need any more of that."

Jasper's study hall period found him sitting in Emmett's jeep shaving layers of vulcanized rubber from the truck tire scrap as he refined the shape of his paddle. Some of his fellow shop students had given him funny looks as he rough cut his 'project', but in truth Jasper wasn't sure that there had ever been a time that they didn't look at him like he was strange.

He had managed to rivet two strips that he had held back from the initial cutting process to the front and back sides of the handle making it thicker and easier to hold, but he still wasn't pleased with the hot pink duct tape peppered with tiny Hello Kitty heads that wrapped the handle. There was just something so wrong about that, however it was the only tape Alice had, making it his single option. Alice wanted him to wrap the entire thing with these blasted kitties which was something that Jasper had no intention of doing. He was well aware of how much the reclaimed rubber paddle would hurt; there was no need in adding humiliation to the mix by having dozens of bow bedecked kitten faces staring at his behind.

"Mr. Hale? What are you doing out…?" Mr. Varner stopped short as he noticed the hefty blade in the boy's hand. "Young man, I'm going to have to ask you to stop what you are doing, hand that over and come with me. I'm certain Mr. Greene would like to know that his students are carrying weapons at school."

Jasper looked up at the math teacher with a dumbfound expression plastered across his face. "But. But... Mr. Varner, I wasn't carrying it anywhere. It stays in the car. I have a free period and thought I would finish up on a project that I started in shop. I needed the knife to do it, so I came out to the car for the simple reason of **not **wanting to carry it at school."

"You are still in possession of a weapon on school property, Mr. Hale. We have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to things like this. I will not stand here and argue with you over this matter. You may come with me and explain yourself to Mr. Greene or I will go in without you and call the police for you to discuss this with them."

Jasper sighed as he held the man's gaze while the teacher stood trembling visibly with his hand stretched out to take the knife. _I am screwed seven ways to Sunday._ Cursing softly under his breath, Jasper spun the knife around and placed the handle in the man's open palm. "Please, Mr. Varner, can't we keep this between us? I'll do whatever you ask. Detention. Extra work. I'll wash your car and clean your yard. Anything. PLEASE! My dad is going to go ballistic if he finds out that I've managed to get in trouble."

"Mr. Hale, I believe that is something you should have considered before you brought a weapon to school. Please come with me." The teacher began to walk off towards the main building without a backward glance, safe in the knowledge that Jasper would follow.

"Shit." Jasper huffed as he left the relative safety of the car to trail the man with his head hung low in shame, never noticing that his phone had been left behind on the floorboard; silently vibrating madly.

* * *

Pulling Edward's Volvo into the faculty lot, Esme killed the engine and sat for a few minutes to enjoy the last moments of peace and quiet she was likely to encounter for a while. Couldn't the school ever call with good news? Just once she would like to see the number registered on the caller ID and greet an upbeat voice instead of the somber tones that always instructed her that her presence was required to repair some damage done by one or more of the children. _Emmett what have you done this time?_

The brief conversation replayed in her mind. "Hello?"

"Mrs. Cullen?"

"Oh, Mrs. Cope it's always a pleasure. What can I do for you today?"

"Mrs. Cullen, Mr. Greene asked if you or Doctor Cullen might be able to come to the school at your earliest convenience. There was a little trouble and he needs to speak with one of you."

"Oh, dear I hope it isn't something too serious. Yes of course. I'll be right over." _If it wasn't serious they wouldn't be calling, now would they?_

"Thank you, Mrs. Cullen. Mr. Greene will be looking forward to seeing you soon."

"Thank you so much for calling and I am terribly sorry for whatever trouble my brood has caused. I won't be long. Goodbye for now."

Esme closed her eyes and leaned forward, resting her head against the steering wheel as she sighed softly. After everything that had happened last night she could not believe that any of her children would willingly find themselves in trouble again so soon. The school secretary hadn't mentioned which of the children was the reason behind the call nor did she disclose the current issue, but Esme could only surmise that Emmett was the culprit. Maybe she should have let Carlisle handle him since it was pretty obvious that she hadn't been effective. _Emmy, why can't you behave yourself?_ "Is there some reason that you can't be just a bit more like Edward and Jasper?" _At least they know when it is a bad idea to tempt fate. This would be one of those times._

Her burly bruin and her little solider boy were both still due a conversation with her husband tonight. What in the world could her baby bear have been thinking; getting himself into more trouble before he was cleared of his previous transgressions? _Why do I get the feeling that Carlisle is not going to be pleased?_

Sighing heavily, Esme sat up and attempted to ignore the twinges of foreboding that brought with them a sickening feeling of dread. _You would think that after a hundred years I would be used to all of this. I feel like I'm the one in trouble here._ A thought formed rather suddenly that caused a sad smile to briefly cross Esme's lips. _Well I have just been called to the principal's office._

With a slight shake of her head, she grabbed her purse and stepped out of the car to hopefully resolve this problem without further issue. Walking across the parking lot gave her an extra few moments to convince herself that it wasn't going to be a big deal. _Most likely something simple that I can clear up and then Carlisle need never be bothered. At least for the sake of your hide, Emmy, I hope that's the case._

Mrs. Cope greeted her warmly as Esme walked through the all too familiar office door.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Cullen." She smiled brightly at Esme as she briefly considered what she wouldn't give to exchange places with the flawlessly beautiful doctor's wife before her. "Please take a seat. Mr. Greene will be right with you."

Turning towards the small leather couch Esme found herself unable to suppress a soft gasp at the sight that met her eyes.

"Jasper?"

Her son sat there with his elbows resting on his knees while he cradled his bowed head in his hands. Refusing to lift his head, his mannerisms were a testament to the shame that was racking his system. His mother sighed inwardly as she took a seat next to her gentle sensitive little boy.

"Oh, baby, tell me what happened."

Esme slowly rubbed his shoulder trying to comfort the miserable boy, but Jasper flinched at her touch.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it's a misunderstanding that we can get cleared right up. Don't let it trouble you like this, Jazz."

"Momma, I am in so much trouble right now. Papa is going to skin me alive, and rightfully so."

"He'll do no such thing and don't you even think like that." She ran her fingers through his soft blond locks as she tried to reassure her disheartened son.

"Of course he will, Momma. Ode Japer's fixin' ta find himself in uh heap uh trouble. Ah was already in it pruty deep, but now…"

"Mrs. Cullen, it is so nice to see you." Mr. Greene stood in the opened doorway with a silly smile on his face. "Would you and Mr. Hale please come in?"

"Hello, Mr. Greene. Nice to see you though I do wish we would stop meeting under such unpleasant circumstances." Esme gracefully rose to her feet, but her son seemed to sink a little lower into the couch. "Jasper, come on, sweetheart. I'm sure Mr. Greene is a busy man. We don't want to keep him waiting."

Swallowing hard Jasper shook his head. Sitting in the reception area of the office was bad enough, but actually entering the inner chamber would be the point of no return. While he would battle his brothers to the death if they challenged his bravery, Esme's southern gentleman was feeling very unsure of his ability to face his mother once she was informed of the charges against him. She would certainly be disappointed, most likely angry, and facing his father would be much worse than that. Jasper was unwilling to start the ball rolling so he foolishly hoped that by gluing his butt to its current location he would somehow be able to keep the consequences of his action at bay, if only for a little while longer.

"I apologize, Mr. Greene. It would appear that my son has developed a touch of deafness because I know that he would never intentionally rudely ignore your direction." Esme caught Jasper's chin and tilted his head up forcing his eyes to meet hers as she whispered sternly, "Time to pay the piper, young man. You know better than to play these sorts of games. I don't know what has gotten into you, but I'm not going to put up with it. Do we understand one another?"

"Yes, ma'am." He averted his eyes to try to hide his apprehension from his mother as he slowly found his footing. "Sorry."

"I believe it's Mr. Greene to whom you should be apologizing, don't you?"

Jasper nodded while whispering his apologies to the administrator before allowing his mother to lead him into the office as the man shut the door behind them. Jasper shuddered at the trapped feeling that came over him when he was guided to sit next to Esme before the principal's desk. He had never really been in any trouble at school since Emmett had been only too accomplished at that task to prove to Jasper that he wanted none of it. If his heart still beat he was certain that it would be pounding a hole in his chest by now.

"Jasper, calm down. I know that you are nervous, but you will do fine. Right now you're starting to project and it's making Mr. Greene jumpy. You need to rein that in for me, sweetheart. I'm not angry with you, but you need to relax." Esme's whispered instructions had been much too quiet for the headmaster to have heard as he restlessly shuffled through his paperwork to find the needed forms for this conference.

The boy closed his eyes and inhaled deeply while he consciously tried to project that calm onto the man behind the desk. He opened his eyes when he felt his mother gently pat his thigh before allowing her hand to rest there offering her support through the simple loving act of her touch.

"Now then, Mrs. Cullen let me start off by saying that Jasper has always been a model student. He is always respectful, applies himself and has never given anyone any trouble as far as following the rules is concerned. His instructors speak very highly of him."

"Thank you, Mr. Greene. My husband and I take a great deal of pride in our children."

"As you should, Mrs. Cullen, they are all wonderful young adults, but of course we wouldn't be here if we hadn't run into a little hiccup today. I have to admit that I was stunned when Mr. Varner brought Mr. Hale to the office today and even more so when he informed me of your son's offense."

Jasper groaned softly as he intently studied his hands while they fidgeted wildly in his lap. A lump of venom formed in his throat while the administrator spoke causing him to cough lightly.

"While returning from lunch, Mr. Varner observed Jasper sitting in his vehicle working on something. As he approached your son, he was surprised to find Mr. Hale armed with a rather large hunting knife." Greene noticed the expression marring Esme's face and quickly edited his explanation. "He gave no indication that he was intent on harming anyone. He claimed to be working on a shop project which apparently required carving of some nature; however the District has a no tolerance policy where weapons are concerned. As much as it grieves me to say this, Mrs. Cullen, I'm afraid that Mr. Hale must face discipline for this infraction."

Jasper cringed as he heard Esme release a held breath. He could only imagine what she must be thinking right now. He could feel his mother's distress. She was worried and he was picking up a little bit of underlining sadness and frustration at the situation he alone was responsible for.

"I know that this is viewed as a very serious matter, Mr. Greene. I completely understand why and don't wish to make light of it. What sort of consequences are we discussing?"

"Normally for a first-time offense of possession of a dangerous weapon the student is given long-term suspension."

"Long term?"

Placing his folded hands on his desk on top of Jasper's file, Mr. Greene nodded solemnly. "Long term suspension ranges from ten to ninety days, the choice being left to my discretion."

"Mr. Greene, I know that you have always been more than fair with your students, but I wouldn't be doing my job as a mother if I didn't ask for leniency for my son. I feel certain that this matter can be quickly and easily resolved. I know that none of my children would dream of causing anyone harm at this school. This could have only been some juvenile oversight on Jasper's part which will most certainly be addressed at home and never repeated. He should and will be punished, but I feel that long term suspension is a bit of overkill given the …"

Greene held his hand up successfully stopping Esme's defense in midstream.

"I am inclined to agree with you, Mrs. Cullen. While I do support our 'no tolerance' stance let me inform you that, with the exception of firearms, there is no specific sanction that **must** be imposed. The decision is made on a case by case basis. I don't feel that Mr. Hale stands to learn anything from a long term suspension and given that school work assigned during this period of punishment is not allowed to be made up, it would do much more harm than good to the boy. Taking into consideration the circumstances of the infraction along with your son's spotless record, I am prepared to impose a milder punishment."

Jasper gave a soft sigh of relief, but a look from Esme made him feel that he may have just relaxed a bit too soon.

"What I propose is a three day suspension followed by an additional three days of in school suspension. During the home suspension, Jasper will be allowed to continue to complete assignments so as to not fall behind in his classes; not as if that is a major problem for him. He will not be allowed on campus, but his siblings are more than welcomed to take his work home to him." For the first time during the conference, the principal shifted his focus directly to Jasper as the boy shifted nervously. "I trust that this is agreeable to you, Mr. Hale and that we will have no further need to discuss such matters in the future."

Jasper met the man's eyes before giving him a slight nod then dropped his gaze towards the floor.

Esme squeezed her son's knee gently bring his attention back to her. "I believe Mr. Greene deserves a better response, honey."

Clearing his throat, Jasper spoke quietly, "Yes, Sir. Thank you for giving me a break with this. I know that you didn't have to and I really do appreciate it. I am sorry that I didn't think my plan through. I knew that I couldn't carry my knife in school, but I didn't think of the parking lot as the same thing. I can assure you that I will never bring a weapon onto school grounds again." _Except for myself, Alice, Edward, Rosalie and Emmett; school sanctioned weapons__._

"That is good to hear, Mr. Hale." The principal rifled through Jasper's file. "If we are all in agreement on this, I have some forms that need to be signed and then you will be excused for the remainder of the day with your suspension beginning tomorrow morning."

With the paperwork signed and tucked away in Jasper's file, Mr. Greene escorted Esme and her son out to the reception area to say his goodbyes before returning to work. "Hopefully we can meet on better circumstances next time, Mrs. Cullen."

"I do hope so, Mr. Greene. A more social setting would be a breath of fresh air."

"Yes, indeed. Pleases give my regards to your husband. And you young man." He caught Jasper's eye. "I know that I can expect better from you in the future. Everyone makes mistakes, but don't allow them to become a habit. Your future is much too bright to risk it over things like this."

Jasper gave the man a weak smile and nodded in acceptance. "Thank you again, Mr. Greene. Don't worry. I have learned my lesson." He felt his mother's hand alighted gently on his shoulder.

"Mrs. Cope, I was wondering if you would please let my children know that I have taken Jasper home so they aren't looking for him when they get out for the day?"

"Of course, Mrs. Cullen." The little red head smiled sweetly at Esme. "Always happy to help with your lovely family."

"Thank you." Her hand tightened very slightly on Jasper's shoulder as she guided him towards the door. "Let's get you home, young man. I do believe that you have caused enough trouble for these people for one day."

"Yes, ma'am." Jasper hung his head as he and Esme walked from the main office into the parking lot. His night went from bad to horrible through one simple action. If he hadn't learned his lesson through the school sanctioned disciplinary action, he most certainly would at the hand of his father…or maybe his mother from what he had heard about last night. Jasper inhaled deeply then let the air flow from his lungs in a heavy sigh. "I never meant for this to happen, Momma. I am so sorry."

"Just get in the car, Jasper. We'll talk about this later. Let's just get home first and when we do I would like you to go straight to your room."

"Yes, ma'am."

This was going to be a long quiet drive home leading to an even longer night that Jasper feared would be anything but quiet.

* * *

**AN:** Emmy was suppose to be the one in the worst trouble for this last little part, but it appears that Jazzy got jealous. ...something really wrong with that boy. Papa is not going to be happy. I do think that he will give the boy a bit of a break since he wasn't out there acting stupid but that is still a pretty rough patch that he managed to get himself into.

Thanks everyone for all you do! Thanks, Splinter for her support and mad proof reading skills. Hopefully I can get this one wrapped up quickly in spite of Jazz's little detour. *rolls eyes*


	13. Judgement Passed

The sound of the Mercedes pulling into the garage drew a low groan from Jasper as he lay on his bed with only the fading rays of the setting sun illuminating his room. He had long since given up on reading his history book and now simply watched the growing shadows slide along the wall as the trees danced in the evening breeze. Things were not looking good for him at all at this moment. He hadn't heard Esme call Carlisle, but if she hadn't informed him already about his son's fall from grace, his father would certainly learn about it soon enough.

With a sigh he rolled over and rubbed at the mild ache which his mother had managed to put in his backside with a single swat as she sent him to his room. It had been completely unexpected and left the boy grateful at hearing Esme mutter about waiting in his room until his father came home, but now that Carlisle had finally arrived he felt himself growing more and more nervous.

His siblings and mate had been asked to leave him to his thoughts when they returned from school; leaving the boy to mentally batter himself in solitude. Jasper's loving Alice had pushed the point with their mother of bringing him his books and phone to which Esme had finally conceded. While she didn't stay long, she did manage to offer him a touch of comfort along with delivering him the implement of his impending doom. Alice giggled as she handed the rubberized paddle to Jasper, telling him that she had seen it used so he would need to have it around when the time came. With a raised brow he had thanked his mate for her continuing kindness and kissed her before she skipped her way back out the door. She really was such an odd bird sometimes, but he loved her just the same.

Carlisle's quiet voice made it difficult for Jasper to hear his parent's discussion down in the kitchen over the constant buzzing of voices and the rapid fire sounds of Emmett's video game. He could only guess at how well his father accepted this monumental bit of stupidity. The boy heard his principal's name but nothing more as his mother's voice was quickly swept away by an Xbox driven explosion. _Really, Emmett?_ Closing his eyes he tried to concentrate but the next sound he heard was a soft rapping on his bedroom door.

"Come in, Sir."

"Jasper." Carlisle nodded to his son as he pulled the desk chair over toward the bed and took a seat. "Enjoying the darkness?"

"Enjoying the quiet and the dark seems to help me relax."

"Relaxing is healthy." Carlisle nodded as he crossed his legs and laced his fingers together before placing his hands in his lap. "So, I hear you had a very eventful day. Want to talk about it?"

Jasper knew that wasn't a request, but his common sense left him just long enough for his mouth to take charge of the situation. "No, Sir. I think I've done quite enough talking for one day. I would just like to lay here and sulk in my solitude if you don't mind." While Carlisle watched him intently, Jasper closed his eyes, dropped his head and groaned.

"Your mind just caught back up?"

"Yes, Sir. Something like that."

"You do know that you are on rather thin ice, don't you son?"

With a sigh, Jasper nodded. "Yes, Sir and I believe that Emmett just might have been right last night."

Confusion clouded Carlisle's eyes as his brow furrowed at his son's words. "Right in what way?"

"When he made mention that I was lacking the brains that the good Lord gave a billy goat."

His father smirked as a soft chuckle bubbled forth. "I wouldn't say that at all, Jasper. The Lord endowed you with a wonderful mind, but sometimes you ignore what it tells you because you firmly set yourself on a different path; regardless of the consequences it would seem."

Jasper looked away from his father's eyes as he nodded yet again. "I made a right mess of things, Papa."

"Yes, from what I heard you did manage to do that, son. I would appreciate hearing your side of the events though. Your mother said that you weren't allowed to share your side of the story before judgment was passed. I would rather have the chance to get the full picture."

Taking a deep breath, Jasper tried to quiet his mind before he spoke again. The fear of his father's disappointment weighed heavily on him, but the sooner he faced and accepted it the sooner he could work towards repairing that damage.

"Last night I finally made a decision as far as what would be an appropriate punishment for breaking my parole."

Carlisle grinned at Jasper's choice of words, but allowed his son to continue uninterrupted.

"Today I set about to implement that decision so I would have things together when you came home from work. I had meant to be waiting for you in your study, but...well the day had other plans for me. Things had gone reasonably well until Mr. Varner caught me sitting out in the jeep during my free period. Now I know that I shouldn't have been out in the parking lot to begin with so I was wrong there, but it is a free period to study or catch up on things that need catchin' up on. No one says that you have to be in the library or any specific place. Anyway, Mr. Varner has always kinda had it out for us for some reason. Always trying to prove that we are cheats and such, but you already know that."

"Yes, I do. He doesn't seem to feel that you should have as much knowledge as you do and we can't exactly tell him that you've passed these classes so many times already that you could be teaching them in your sleep. He is not the fairest of gentlemen, from what I can tell, but there is little we can do about his issues without causing ourselves problems."

"I know but he is still annoying."

"Duly noted and entirely understood. Please continue."

Jasper cleared his throat then looked at his father. He expected to find disappointment reflecting in his features, but so far all he registered was calm curiosity. His father appeared to simply want to understand. Taking a breath, the boy continued, "I think his vendetta is the only reason that he busted me. He didn't have to. I was sitting in the car doing a little carving when he showed up. He read me the riot act then made me turn my knife over to him. In fact I have yet to get it back. I don't think it's fair for the school to hold it hostage. That's my Bowie and I should get it back."

"I'll talk to Mr. Greene tomorrow about returning your property."

"Thank you. I've had it a long time and really don't relish the idea of losing it." Jasper's righteous anger appeased for the time being, he dropped his gaze as he continued. "Well he told me that if I didn't turn it over he would call the cops. I couldn't risk that so I handed it to him and he brought me to the office. "

"That was a very wise decision." Carlisle nodded as he thought about how this event could have resolved itself differently. Having the police become involved would have created a much stickier situation that could have proven itself disastrous to all concerned. "You acted in a very commendable manner in that regard, Jasper. I am proud of you."

Jasper stared into Carlisle's eyes in disbelief causing a slight smile to curl his father's lips as he cocked an eyebrow. "What? Am I not allowed to be proud of my son?"

"After what happened today I don't understand why you would be."

Carlisle sighed quietly as he calmly surveyed his son. "The actions that landed you into trouble were foolish and they do disappoint me, but the manner in which you handled yourself throughout the ordeal is quite praiseworthy. You didn't have to submit to your teacher's authority, but you did even when you felt he was treating you unjustly. Right now we are able to sit here calmly and discuss your actions without fear of serious repercussions to this family because you thought enough to realize that involving the authorities would not have been in anyone's best interest. If you had refused to comply and the police been brought in, with the current concerns over school violence there is a great possibility that you would have found yourself within a media circus. The ripples from that would extend far and wide, opening us up to the possibility of exposure. Caius would delight in nothing more than destroying this coven and that would give him all the reason he would need to do so. At the very least he would want you destroyed and that is something that I would never allow."

A pang of sadness stabbed at Carlisle with great ferocity as he watched his son's shoulders sagged under the weight of guilt. The tousled blonde head bowed in regret of what could have happened because of his rashness.

Carlisle placed his hand gently on Jasper's shoulder as he spoke in a soft soothing tone. "Look at me, son."

The darkening gold eyes that met his held a world of grief.

"These are events that could have happened, but didn't. They didn't because you made the conscious decision to do the right thing even if you hadn't thought through all the consequences at that time. Jasper you know that I don't make rules for my own pleasure. I make them to keep my family safe. Whenever you act in accordance to those rules you honor me with a great deal of respect, how could I not take pride in that and likewise you?"

A tear rolled down Jasper's cheek at the honesty that rang in his father's words. Carlisle brushed it away with his thumb as he stood to pull his son up from the bed and into his arms.

"I'm so sorry, Papa." His voice was slightly muffled as he buried his face in his father's shoulder. "Edward and Alice warned me, but I was too stubborn to listen to them."

"Shh. It's alright, sport." Carlisle's breath ruffled his son's hair as he whispered gently while rubbing Jasper's back. With a quiet laugh he pushed Jasper away just enough to look him in the eye. "So perhaps God gifted you with the brain of a bull instead of a goat, huh? As long as you use it correctly that stubbornness can be a fine quality."

Jasper managed a slight smile before his father pulled him close again. The teen tightened his arms around the man whom he was proud to call his leader and father. After several minutes had past, Jasper found himself calming down enough to pull away from his father's reassuring embrace.

Carlisle dipped his head slightly to gaze into his boy's eyes. "Feeling a bit better now, son?"

With a nod, Jasper reclaimed his place on the bed. Instead of returning to his seat, Carlisle leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and tilted his head in contemplation as he watched his son settle down.

"Jasper, as much as I know you didn't mean to do anything wrong you really should know better than to bring a weapon to school."

"But I didn't bring it to school. It was in the car where I intended to leave it."

"Which is not where it should be kept in the first place, now should it?" Carlisle shifted as he squared his shoulders, ready to accept any challenge that Jasper would raise, but his son simply glanced away offering no resistance to the light reprimand. "While Mr. Varner could have let this go with a warning, and yes, I do believe that would have been more appropriate, he is well within his rights to turn you in to Mr. Greene. Son, you not only broke the school rules, you broke the law and could have ended up in jail. I don't know how well Charlie would have been able to sweep that under the carpet for us. It seems like such a minor incident, but given the current social environment it becomes a major faux pas." Carlisle took a breath as he ran his hand through his hair out of nothing more than habit then refolded his arms as his voice took on a slight edge. "By committing an act that caused our family to become susceptible to public scrutiny you broke one of my most basic rules and if for no other reason than that, you have put me in a position where I cannot ignore your behavior. I don't want to punish you for what started as a matter of simple poor judgement, Jasper, but you have left me with no other choice."

"I know." The response was so soft that Carlisle wasn't sure he had really heard it at first, but then Jasper continued to speak with his head hung low. "I've known that from the moment that Mr. Greene called Momma. Sitting up here watching the sunset, I had time to think and come up with other options; some sort of contingency plan that would save my butt. I came up empty handed every time. I don't like it and I really don't think that I was doing anything wrong, but now that you have brought up the idea of the media and the Volturi…."

Carlisle's body trembled as a wave of anxiety hit him, tying his stomach up in knots. "Jasper, calm down. You are making yourself feel worse." He grimaced as another wave hit him causing the doctor to suddenly wish that he had the ability to vomit. "You are doing a tune on me in the process, son." A deep breath helped clear Carlisle of the negative feeling while Jasper continually struggled with toning down his jittering apprehension.

"Jasper, stand up for a moment please." Carlisle rubbed his eyes before leaning over to turn on a lamp. His night vision was sharp enough that there was no real need for the bright glow, but he had become accustom to the artificial light and appreciated it just the same.

Jasper sat on the edge of the bed without moving for a few more moments as he blinked slowly while he focused on his father. Carlisle felt every hair on his arms rise as Jasper slowly got to his feet. The patriarch briskly rubbed his forearms to chase the goosebumps away then in a swift motion he took his son by the elbow, turned him slightly and delivered a harsh stinging blow to the youngster's backside.

Jasper yelped as the stroke brought him up on the balls of his feet. Gritting his teeth and holding his hands at his side in clenched fists, he waited for the next stroke to fall. The sharp pain caused his eyes to water, but drawing a deep breath seemed to help him work through the worst of it. After several seconds he hazarded a glance towards his father who had taken a couple of steps back.

Carlisle tilted his head as Jasper met his soft amber eyes. "Are you okay, son?"

Jasper rubbed at the sting and hissed softly before nodding.

"No rendering of your body or soul?

The boy shook his head.

"See. There is nothing to be this nervous about." Carlisle turned Jasper back to face him then ruffed up his son's hair. "You're letting the expectation get the better of you. We've been down this path before. It's not pleasant for either one of us, but it's not some precursor to your destruction either."

Carlisle nodded towards the bed indicating that he wanted Jasper to take his seat. Jasper eyed the bed then looked back towards Carlisle. "I believe that I would prefer to stand if it's all the same to you, Sir."

"I believe I would prefer for you to take a seat, Jazz. You should be alright."

Jasper grunted as his rear made contact with the mattress. It really wasn't that bad, but the stinging intensified as he scooted around in an attempt to find a comfortable position. As he began to relax Carlisle sat down on the bed next to him. Jasper swallowed hard as venom suddenly flooded his mouth. His father felt his own nerves begin to tingle and a shudder ran up his spine.

"This is going to be a long night if you don't get a handle on that, Jasper," Carlisle's tone was a little shorter than he meant for it to be, but as a calm came over him he accepted its effectiveness.

"Sorry, Papa."

Carlisle reassured the boy with a light pat on the back then spoke in his usual soft voice, "Jasper, did you do what I asked of you last night?"

"Yes, Sir. It was my focus on that task that caused all the hoopla today, but I have managed to complete it."

"Good. Now I want you to think about something for just a moment. What was the original reason for your additional punishment?"

Carlisle noticed his son's jaw clench as an odd expression shown in his darkened eyes and his body began to tremble. The patriarch nodded at Jasper then softened his voice a bit more. "I would like you to say it, Jasper. Your acknowledgment and acceptance are key here."

The boy swallowed as his expression turned to one of pure wide eyed dread. "I…Emmett and I…" Taking a shaky breath he closed his eyes as he shook his head. "We…" He reached up and rubbed his eyes in frustration. "Oh, crap. Ah did it again."

"Close enough. Yes, Jazz you managed to repeat the offense that you and Emmett are about to be punished for. To be honest I'm not sure what to do about this since it has never occurred before. You have suggestions for me tonight. I'm going to go talk with Emmett for a few moments and then I would like to see you both in the study in a half an hour. During this waiting period, I want you to think very hard on what you've done, all of the little twists and turns of this day, and how we can correct this issue in such a way as to prevent it from ever occurring again."

Jasper shivered at his father's softly spoken words. "Yesh, Sah."

"We will address the original transgression, and then I shall excuse Emmett before you and I resolve the rest of the issues that have plagued you today."

"Yesh, Sah."

"Take a breath, Jasper. Remember," With a light sigh, Carlisle brushed a lock of hair from his son's forehead as he looked deep into the youth's now worried ebony eyes. "I won't lie to you, son. This is bad, but the outcome is not going to be as awful as you are imagining right now. Take a few deep breaths, lay down for a little while and come see me in thirty minutes so we can put all of this behind us."

He nodded as he watched his father stand up. "Yesh, Sah. Ah will."

"Good boy." He patted Jasper's shoulder and gave him a slight smile before flicking off the light. "You will do just fine, Jasper. Trust me." With that, Carlisle took his leave as he headed down stairs to make sure both of his sons were on the same page and ready to face the rest of the consequences of their actions.

* * *

"Emmett, please take a seat. Jasper, you, too." Carlisle waited while his sons settled into the high-backed leather chairs in front of his desk. For some reason, his children had an unreasonable hatred for those chairs and he always found himself having to make sure that they were kept safe on Esme's "cleaning" days that so often supplied the various charities of Forks.

Taking his own seat behind the desk, Carlisle placed his elbows on the smooth surface and interlaced his fingers as he leaned forward. "Em, I have a question for you. Why is there a dent in my desk that appears to be just about the same size and shape as your fist?"

Emmett ducked his head slightly as he suddenly wished that vampires possessed the magical ability to disappear. "Um…" He scratched at a spot on the back of his neck as he quickly became antsy. "Sorry, Pops?" He shrugged, flashing his father a sheepish grin.

"Mhm. Haven't we spoken about this destructiveness before, son?"

"Pops, I was trying to be careful. Straight up. Momma tore up my behind and I just couldn't help myself."

Carlisle shook his head and began to speak when Jasper's cough stopped him. "Chest," Jasper whispered as he averted his eyes and coughed again.

The elder rubbed his forehead and gave a small nod as he laughed quietly. "We'll let this one go with a warning, Em, but see to it that you be more careful next time."

"Damn straight, Pops. If I have my way there won't be a next time, but you know I will be damn sure to be careful."

"Hmm… Your mother mentioned something about that language, Em. This will be your last warning as far as that goes as well."

"Oh." He ran a hand through his dark curly mane then cleared his throat. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that, too."

"Apologies accepted." Carlisle shifted his gaze from one boy to the other. "Alright, boys let's cut to the chase. We all know why we're here. You both misbehaved while still under restriction from a previous offense. That tells me that my original discipline plan made a very weak impression upon you, so I am now asking for your input as to a punishment that you feel would have the desired effect." With a clearing of his throat, Carlisle focused on his muscular son. "Emmett, let's start with you. I've given you a full day to do some thinking on this problem. I'm quite curious as to what you have come up with."

Emmett tended to enjoy the spotlight, but this was one time that he would have much preferred to stick to the shadows. His leg shook as the nervous energy building up within him searched for some method of release. He noticed Jasper close his eyes just before the calming wave crashed over him. "Thanks for the calm before the storm, Jazzman." He bumped his brother's shoulder lightly with his fist before returning his attention to his father. "Well, Pops when I was thinking it occurred to me that maybe physical punishment just isn't as useful as you think. I mean sure Momma laid into my butt pretty d…arn hard last night and I'm not looking for a repeat of that, but just maybe you could get through to us better by taking a different route. Something more psychological." Jasper scoffed earning himself a glare from his big brother, but Emmy didn't miss a beat. "Now hear me out. What we did… well we broke our grounding, sorta… but what you guys were ticked about was the danger that we got into, right?"

"That's correct, Em."

"So…how about I put in a couple of hours every day for a week or so at the hospital helping with the crispy critters you have in there? That way I can get firsthand experience of what could have happened. You know the suffering and such. I also would get to see just how much you guys have to work at making the stupid people feel better after they torch themselves. See… it's a teaching 'why not to do stupid shi..stuff' sorta thing. You get free help and I learn why this was so stupid to begin with. You know humans flame up, which is bad enough, but we implode when it comes to fire so as bad as they look and what not, I know that it would be so much worse for any of us. Your punishments are supposed to be aimed at making us less stupid; teaching right from wrong. There you go." He grinned and nodded at his brilliantly thought through plan. "Pretty good, right? Took me a long time to come up with that. So what do you say, Pops? Need an extra hand at work? I don't do that bedpan thing though. That's just gross."

The room fell completely silent as the bearish boy watched his father with a look of joyful expectation in his eyes. His chest puffed up with pride as he realized that his cleverness had rendered his father temporarily speechless.

"That there aint a half bad idea, Em." Jasper's compliment brought a broad grin to his brother's face.

"It is actually quite good, Emmett. I'm not sure how well the self-control will hold up in the hospital setting, but all in all that does offer an excellent learning experience."

"Crispy people aren't bleeding all over the place are they?"

"Just being in the hospital itself exposes you to the temptation of human blood, son. Maybe as long as my assistant stays close to me where I can keep an eye on him it would work out. I have to admit that I'm impressed with how much thought you put into your assignment. I'm proud of you for taking this responsibility seriously."

Emmett's head dipped slightly as his father's praise caused him to feel a bit self-conscious. "Well, I did first come up with being forced to watch an Ice Capades marathon, but that seemed too much like cruel and unusual punishment."

Carlisle laughed softly as he shook his head. "I do prefer the idea of developing your work ethic and compassion over forcing you to watch something on the television that you won't enjoy. Let me mull this idea of yours over a bit, Em and if it seems feasible we just might explore that as an option." Carlisle shifted his topaz gaze to his fair haired son. "Alright,Jasper, the same question applies."

The boy looked over at his brother with a grin on his face. "I never thought that I would be shown up by this doofus." He gave Emmett a light shove before turning his attention towards his father. His manner became serious and Carlisle noted self-reproach dim his son's eyes. "Papa, your mention of letting the seriousness of our infraction reflect in my suggestion got me to thinkin'. Seeing as from your position it would appear that I didn't take being grounded as seriously as I should have, it would be fair to say that it didn't make the appropriate impression on me."

"So grounding you is ineffective and I need to be harsher in handling your behavior from now on."

"Now, I wouldn't say that, not at all. It is effective, it's just that sometimes…well like we were talking about in my room, I can be a bit stubborn. I don't believe that I would have gone looking to do something stupid and get my lame butt back into trouble had it not been for my pride; and that is where I know I am most stubborn."

Carlisle sighed quietly as he pinched the bridge of his nose then leaned back while he crossed his arms over his chest. Jasper watched his father intently and felt himself somewhat relax when Carlisle nodded.

"Just as there is value in stubbornness, pride is also a great asset as long as you control it instead of allowing it to control you."

"Yes, Sir, but there will be moments when it does get the best of me. At times like that I could use… well…" Jasper looked away as his own words made him uncomfortable.

Carlisle smirked. "You need a helping hand in controlling that stubborn pride?"

"A hand is usually all that is required, Papa, but once in a great while…" Jasper swallowed hard as he looked into his father's eyes then forced his voice to continue. "Sometimes it takes making a stronger impression on me to be certain that I do right, Sir."

Jasper bit his bottom lip as he lifted the back of his t-shirt slightly to allow him to tug his craft project from the back pocket of his jeans. Turning the heavy piece of rubber over in his hands, the boy grimaced as little white kitty faces looked up at him from their bright pink home which glowed nearly as blazingly bright as his ass would once Carlisle was done with him.

"What the fuck? Dude, have you completely lost it?"

_Most likely, Em._ Jasper reached across Carlisle's desk and placed the paddle directly in front of his father then drew back and glanced away. After several anxious seconds he heard the implement scrape against the solid wood as Carlisle weighed it in his hand.

"You've done a nice job, son. An odd material to work with, but you balanced it nicely. I think the handle design could do with a little bit of improvement. I take it that this was what you were working on today."

"Yesh, Sah."

"The cats?"

"Alice."

"Ah."

Out of the corner of his eye, Jasper watched Carlisle lightly apply the rubber paddle against his own palm.

"Hm, this would certainly only be of use in light of the most serious of infractions." His father studied the boy's handiwork closely. "It's very well made, Jasper, but could be incredibly severe."

Carlisle pushed his chair back from the desk then snapped the implement against his calf with carefully measured force. The strike brought about a grunt of pain that the patriarch quickly attempted to cover up by clearing his throat.

Running his thumb along the cut edge to judge the smoothness Carlisle nodded. "Alright, Jasper. This is acceptable given the seriousness of your folly though I pray that there will never be a need for it to see light of day again."

With a heavy sigh, Carlisle motioned for his sons to stand and move their chairs out of the way. Leaning his hip against the edge of the desk, he tapped the paddle against the broad surface. "Let's get this over with. Front and center."

Jasper took a step forward then froze when his father's final words registered in his ears.

"Come on, Emmett."

* * *

**AN:** ... It doesn't want to end! I tried cutting this back, but Carlisle really had a good about of ground to cover with Jasper. Poor, Emmett. *nods* But, y'all don't need to worry about him too much. Those little test stokes that Carlisle pulled on himself give him a good idea of what is enough and what is too much. Do expect him to play a little bit of a mind game with Emmett though; just for good measure.

Thanks everyone for the continual support and for keeping me focused. Thanks to Splinter, as always. One more full chapter and a little wrap up after should finally see the end of this one, then poor Jasper can serve out his school imposed punishment in peace. YAY!


	14. Justice Served

**AN:** Hi there, y'all. I am posting this a bit early. I wanted to complete the story with this chapter and then have a wrap up but... well, I have lost power. Hurricane Isaac is about 50miles south/south west of me right is moving extremely slow as it tries to drown us. Not sure how long it's going to take to get things back up and running nor how long my puter batter can hold out. I do have an adapter to plug this sucker into the car but I'm looking at at least 24 hours before I can hope to do that. Really didn't want to keep you all hanging so hopefully this will work for now. I am going back to work on Jasper (started last night while still had power) and if I get really lucky with the battery I can get it up. Y'all take care and I'll be back soon.

* * *

"No. Wait..What?" Emmett took a step back as he stared at his father in disbelief. "But, that wasn't the plan, Pops. I'm going to the hospital to help out. That was the deal."

"No, Em." Carlisle spoke calmly as he addressed his dark haired son. "I asked for you both to give me suggestions. I never said how, when or even if I would implement those suggestions." With a sigh he took a step toward his boy. "Please Emmett; don't make this harder than it already is. You were the instigator of this entire event and by that right you deserve a sterner punishment than your brother. Do you disagree?"

His tall muscular son suddenly looked much more like a little lost boy than the man Carlisle knew him to be as he sadly shook his head then tucked his chin against his chest.

"I know you well, Em. I knew that you would come up with some creative yet fairly benign punishment while your brother would focus on something much harsher than his due. You both came through with flying colors and I admit that I remain impressed with your proposal. That was an inspiring bit of brilliance." He placed his hand on Emmett's broad shoulder and gave him a little squeeze of encouragement. "Jasper will be accompanying me to the hospital for the next three days of his suspension so I can keep an eye on him and you, young man get to take this on her maiden voyage." With a brief nod he indicated the paddle he held firmly in his hand.

"Pops, I'm not saying that it's not fair, but..."

"Papa, since I was the one to put that together, I believe that I should have a bit of say so in its use." Jasper held his head high as he stared steadily into his father's eyes. "I didn't make that for use on anyone other than myself. I knew what I was getting into and am mentally prepared for it. Em doesn't have time to come to grips with it so it just wouldn't be right." Jasper closed his eyes then swallowed hard before drawing a deep breath and meeting his father's gaze. "If a paddling is necessary to clear Emmett, I will take it for him."

Emmett's jaw dropped as he looked from Jasper to his father and back again.

Carlisle sighed softly as he shook his head. "You will do no such thing. While that is a noble gesture, son it doesn't work that way."

"It could."

"Yes, it could, however I don't feel your brother will learn from that particular experience so your sacrifice would be pointless. I simply won't have that and the final judgment call remains mine."

"But, Carlisle."

The patriarch held up a hand to silence his son. "Jasper, do you really want to argue with me?"

"No, Sir, but I don't agree with this plan."

"Your agreement is not required for Emmett's punishment." Carlisle's jaw tensed in annoyance as he returned his attention to Emmett. "Son, do you accept my decision?"

Emmy looked at his little brother as he heaved a sigh and nodded his head. "Thanks for trying, Bro. Not sure if that was brave or stupid. Not much separating those two things, you know? Truth, if I hadn't called you a chicken you would have stuck to your guns and wouldn't even be between this rock and Pops. Not liking the fact that you made that damned thing, but Pops has a point. I'm the one who should be in trouble here; not you."

"Still don't seem right."

With a slight flourish of the paddle, Carlisle directed Emmett towards the desk before giving Jasper a warning look. Crossing his arms, the boy huffed as he averted his eyes.

"You might want to have a seat, Jasper."

"I'll stand, thank you."

Carlisle shook his head slightly as he stepped up beside Emmett and placed his hand lightly on the boy's back. "Em, please release the edge of my desk. I would prefer your palms flat so as not to have it marred any worse." The doctor's experienced touch found a knot of tension in his son's back which he easily worked out while Emmett repositioned himself. Once Carlisle was satisfied he pressed his hand down a little more firmly to hold his boy in place before snapping the dreaded implement across Emmett's backside. A sharp intake of air bared witness to the effectiveness of the sturdy rubber. Another stroke brought a nearly inaudible short grunt from the bruin before his father removed the restraining hand from the teen's back and whispered softly, "I'm sorry Em. Please, stay as you are. I'll be right back."

Carlisle swiftly turned and spoke a little more forcefully. "Let's go, Jasper."

"What?"

"I said let's go, son." He caught his recalcitrant boy by the elbow, leading him out the door and down the hall. Suddenly stopping he turned his son towards the wall and hissed quietly in his ear, "You will stay right here until I come to get you. You won't move nor will you speak to anyone who might happen by. I want you to work on getting a grip on your emotional state. I have no reason to be angry, but at the moment I am nearing furious and that will not do. You have no right to be angry, Jasper and you shall check your projecting right now. Do I make myself clear?" Jasper turned his head slightly and registered the murky darkness in his father's eyes. Not wanting to try the man's emotionally battered patience further, he nodded before turning back towards the blank wall. "Good." Carlisle spun on his heel and headed back to the study.

Jasper placed his forehead against the vertical surface and groaned. _Well ol' son, looks like you fucked things up for Em instead of making them better. _He slammed his hand against the wall, frustrated at his lack of self-control, then sighed as he examined the gaping new hole in the sheetrock. _When you do it, you go all out, don't you? No half assed job for you, boy. Papa is going to tan Em's hide but good and then he is going to be gunning for yours. _Running his finger along the jagged edge of the broken sheetrock he continued to castigate himself when the thought of his brother's suffering quite suddenly tugged at his heart. Jasper's vision blurred as a film of venom coated his eyes. _I'm sorry, Em. Dear God, I'm so sorry._

At the sound of the study door opening, Emmett glanced over his shoulder to find his father leaning heavily against the door frame as he rubbed his temples with one hand while the paddle swayed gently in the other.

"You okay there, Pops?"

As his hand wove through his thick blonde hair, Carlisle inhaled deeply then slowly exhaled with a slight nod. "I will be, Em. Just need a minute to ground myself."

"Thought I was the one being grounded; grounded from behind anyway." He grinned at his father in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Carlisle snorted as he walked over to his son and patted the boy on the back.

"Jazz's emo projectile puking getting to you?"

"It was not helping matters."

"It was kind of getting to me, too and I can't afford that given my current position." Emmett cleared his throat as he looked down at his hands. Shifting his big paws he uncovered deep gouges in the dark wood before bashfully looking back at his father. "Sorry, Pops. I was trying."

"I know you did, son. You did the best that you could under the circumstances." He ruffed up the dark curls while laughing softly. "You are bound and determined to force me to buy a new desk, aren't you? Some conspiracy you are sharing with your mother, perhaps." Carlisle raised a brow causing his boy to glance away. "As amusing as this is, I think we need to get back to business, Em. I'm ready for this to be done."

"We can call it done now, if you want. Just saying that I'm good with that option."

Carlisle's only response was to wrap his arm firmly around his son's waist to firmly secure him against his hip. "Emmett I really don't want to do this."

"Mutual feeling there, Pops." Emmett tensed and remained quiet as several strokes fell hard and fast, but when a thundering crack filled the air the stoic boy yelped loudly only to fall back into a confused silence. "Wait. That… what the hell?" The deafening sound reverberated through the room again before Carlisle dropped the paddle on the desk.

"That's interesting, Em. I get more of a response when I don't hit you." He smirked as he released his son. "If the sound is the only thing having an impact on you, then I think I need to switch tactics. Pants down, son."

"It hurts enough, Pops." The boy rubbed his rump for a few seconds before quickly unfastening his jeans.

"Yet you don't react until I strike the desk instead of you."

"Well…" He ducked his head as his easy smile danced on his face and glistened in his eyes.

Carlisle raised a brow as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot, but there was the barest trace of amusement in his topaz eyes. "Emmett Cullen, never think that you can fool me, young man." He gave the boy a sharp smack then turned him to ease the boy back over the battle scarred desk. "I'm not comfortable with Jasper's paddle so I'm afraid that I may be using it too lightly to successfully make my point. Time for a different approach." Snugging his son against his body once again, Carlisle rapidly set fire to Emmett's behind with his most trusted implement; his firm right hand.

It wasn't long before his son's resolve began to give way to the sting that steadily increased in his posterior. Soft grunts and quiet hisses let Carlisle know that he was finally making an impression on his powerfully built boy. Emmett shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he searched for some way to dodge his father's blows.

"Be still, Em." Carlisle punctuated his order with a swat which caught Emmett low on the most sensitive area of his behind. His son gasped at the burning sting but forced himself to remain motionless as he bit the inside of his cheek to keep as quiet as possible.

"Son, you will NEVER find a way to get yourself in trouble when you are already on restriction, will you?"

Emmett shook his head before he found the strength in his voice to get out a hoarse, "No. Never."

"I know that your fun loving nature runs wild sometimes, but it is very disrespectful towards me for you to misbehave when you are already being punished. Should this happen again, Em you are going to look back on this moment as a fond memory. Do you understand?"

Carlisle's brawny son hissed through gritted teeth as he nodded his acknowledgement.

A final swift and hard volley of strokes aimed at the junction of Emmett's rump and thighs brought the boy up on his toes as little noises of protest mixed with the snapping sound of his father's hand against his thinly clad rear. Emmett rested his head on the desk and panted softly as he tried to catch his breath once he felt Carlisle's grip loosen. _Oh thank God!_

Carlisle rubbed his son's back gently as he ducked his head slightly to look at him. "Are you alright, Em?"

Emmy sniffled back the thick venom and cleared his throat before whispering a soft, "Fine, Pops."

"That's my boy." The patriarch's kneaded his cub's shoulder then drew his hand away.

The gun shot loud crack and the scorching burn that exploded across Emmett's backside brought him up off of the desk with a yelp as he grabbed his battered behind with both hands and turned to face his father. "What the fuck?"

"Well now that's three more that you are set to receive. Do you want to make it four?"

"What did I….? Oh…"

Carlisle nodded. "I did warn you, Em, but you didn't heed that warning. This last one makes a told of four instances of vulgarity since I told you that I wasn't going to remind you to watch yourself again. Apparently, you didn't take me seriously. Hopefully this will correct that oversight." Emmett eyed Jasper's contraption with distain as it dangled far too comfortably in his father's hand. "We're almost finished, son. Back over the desk, please."

Emmett's shoulders sagged as he muttered under his breath, but did as his father asked. The three strokes were rapid fire and over as quickly as they had begun, not allowing the boy a chance to recover until all were dealt out.

Carlisle watched his son's massive shoulders heave as the boy sobbed silently, causing his heart to break. "It's over, Em. We're done, son. You did very well." Placing the paddle off to the side, he allowed his hand to rest lightly on the boy's back in the hopes that his touch may offer a little comfort.

It was several minutes before Emmett regained enough control to push himself up from his prone position with a little assistance from his father. He swiped at his eyes trying to rid himself of the traitorous tears that threatened to fall.

Placing both hands on his son's shoulders, Carlisle lowered his head to look into Em's teary eyes. "Are you still alright, son?"

Emmett sniffled and choked as he looked down and away from his father. "I'm not sure, Pops, but I think so."

Cupping a hand on the back of his son's neck while his other arm encircled his back, Carlisle pulled Emmett into his embrace and kissed him on the forehead. Emmy tried to wipe away his tears again but more continued to flow as his father's love washed over him.

"Pops, I'm sorry."

"I know, Emmy. Shh. It's going to be okay. All is forgiven and I'm sorry if I was too hard on you."

"I won't lie, that sh.. that mother.. God da… oh for fu…" Emmett stopped and took a breath then tried again. "Hurt. Hurt bad enough that I can't think enough to form a sentence."

Carlisle's fingers raked through the dark tangled curls comfortingly. "Seems to have awakened your ability to edit and restrain yourself a bit more, Em. Do you know the real reason that I was so harsh?"

"Because I can't control my f-ing mouth."

"That's only part of it, son. If it was just your profanity we would have likely taken a little walk over to the bathroom and introduced you to some soap." Carlisle pulled his boy back a bit to look him in the eye. "Em, your backside is smarting right now because you were openly defiant." The confused look in the boy's eyes could not be mistaken for anything else. "How do you explain the use of profanity mere minutes after being told that I wasn't going to warn you again? That is defiance, young man."

"I didn't even realize it."

"You need to start realizing it."

Emmett nodded then rested his head back against Carlisle's shoulder. All too soon for Carlisle's liking, his son began to feel foolish at needing his father's reassurance and pulled away from the elder.

"Sorry for losing it there, Pops, but that thing there..." He glared at the paddle with an expression of pure hatred. "Well, I wouldn't get too attached to it if I were you because I get the feeling that it's going to meet with some unfortunate demise."

Carlisle laughed softly. "Emmett Cullen, a wise man does not destroy his father's belongings and if he plans on doing so, he most certainly doesn't give fair warning first." He gave the boy a wink as he ruffed up his hair.

A sheepish expression brightened Emmett's face as he grinned. "Then just forget I said anything."

The patriarch laughed louder as he slapped his boy on the back. "Behave yourself, Em or I will fear that I am becoming too soft and have to correct that. Now go on and get out of here. Jasper and I have some unfinished business to take care of."

"Aww, Pops. He didn't mean to get all worked up. Can't you just let it go with him working the burnt brigade? Hey, if you want to punish him worse just make him do that bed pan duty." The bruin shuddered at the very idea. "That has got to be just plain awful no matter who you are."

Carlisle smiled but shook his head to the negative. "Jasper and I have some other matters to address, son. Don't worry about him. He has a good idea as to what to expect, however I won't be too hard on him if that makes you feel better."

"Makes it a little better, but not too hard can still be plenty hard." Emmett rubbed his backside as he spoke.

Laughing, Carlisle slipped his arm around his son's shoulder and led him towards the door. "You go take care to keep yourself out of trouble and leave your brother to me."

"Will do, Pops, but can't say that I won't worry about Jazz just the same."

"I wouldn't expect anything less, Em."

Watching his son head downstairs, Carlisle sighed heavily as his thoughts turned towards Jasper. He hadn't planned on using a heavy hand with his solider boy, but then he hadn't planned on that stubborn streak rearing its head so soon. Hopefully he had calmed down and things would go easier because Carlisle really didn't want to entertain thoughts to the contrary.

With a worried mind and a heavy heart, he slowly walked down the hall to claim his son.


	15. Justice Served Part Deux

Jasper stood exactly as his father had left him except now he had taken on a contrite stance with head bowed and hands clasped behind his back. The intense anger was gone, something for which Carlisle counted himself extremely lucky. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he originally feared.

"Jasper? Son?" Carlisle reached out and placed his hand against his soldier's shoulder. The boy jumped at his father's quiet tone and tender touch. "Please come with me."

"I put a hole in the wall." Jasper's voice was the barest of whispers as he remained glued to the spot.

"So I see."

"Papa, I…"

Carlisle tightened his hold on Jasper's shoulder and turned his son around. Tapping his knuckle beneath the boy's jaw, he encouraged him to raise his head.

"I know, son. We need to talk, but I promise you, everything will be fine. Come on. Let's take this someplace private." Jasper nodded and allowed his father to steer him back towards his office. Once safely behind closed doors, Carlisle sat down on the couch and dropped his head into his hands while his son settled in next to him. Several minutes passed in silence before the patriarch felt a calm come over him.

"Thank you, Jasper, but that isn't necessary. I'm not upset. I'm trying to decide where to start."

"May I speak, Sir?"

"Feel free, son." Carlisle sat back meeting his boy's eyes as he gave Jasper his undivided attention.

Jasper kept his head low as he glanced up at his father. "Is Emmett okay?"

"Yes. A little worse for wear, but it takes much more than a spanking to dampen Emmett's spirits."

The boy swallowed as he casted his eyes downward in shame. "Carlisle, I know better than to question you. I have no idea why I couldn't stop myself from ..."

His father took a deep breath. "You were worried about your brother. There is nothing wrong with that, Jasper. I want all of you to look after each other. That's what a family does. The problem is that you meant to interfere with me. I didn't mind you questioning me, but once I've responded to those questions you should have accepted my explanation.

If you trust me, son, then you would know that I would never harm your brother. This is a serious issue that has cropped up time and time again. I do understand your protectiveness when it comes to Alice, but to see it show itself, even at a milder level, when the concern is Emmett does disturb me. What can I do to ease your mind, Jazz? Tell me what is required to earn your trust, because I'm at a loss."

Jasper hung his proud head low. "I trust you, Papa. Honest. It's just…"

Carlisle placed his hand on his son's knee. "Just what, son?"

"I didn't want to be responsible for that happening to Emmett. He has been with you since he was turned so he doesn't know how other covens work. He may be strong and tough, but he is not use to the harshness that I am accustomed to. I just don't want him to have to experience the types of discipline that I have."

"Jasper, first you need to let go of the idea that you are in any way responsible for the punishment Emmett received. A very small amount was meted out with that paddle. I was never going to use it on him to the extent that you feared, though it wouldn't have done for me to let either of you in on that little fact at the time. I do know what your implement can do. I tested it out first on myself to make sure that I would be in control of just what was being experienced at the other end." Carlisle placed a couple of fingers beneath his son's chin and gently tilted his head up. "I know that it's not what you are used to, Jazz, but by now I would have hoped that my methods would have become more familiar so you wouldn't find yourself worrying so much."

"But I heard ..."

Carlisle raised a hand and stopped his son instantly in midsentence. "No, son what you heard was me hitting the desk to make Emmett believe that I had hit him that hard. That was just a little shock to his psyche. I wasn't striking him very hard at all." Carlisle replayed the final moments of Emmett being taken to task then cleared his throat. "The final few strokes were rather hard, " he admitted softly, "but they were for a different reason than his original offense."

Jasper's eyes held his father's questioningly.

"Emmett may share that information with you if he wishes."

The boy nodded slightly while shifting as he grew more uncomfortable under his father's gaze.

"Jasper, you need to be mindful of your ability to affect others when you are upset yourself. The anger that you were giving off could have caused me to lose my control with Emmett. I don't think you would have been pleased with having been the cause should that have happened."

"No, Sir." The regret was clear in his whispered response.

"Were you angry because you didn't believe I had given your concerns the consideration that they deserved?"

He nodded as he turned away. "I felt dismissed. Since I was the one who made that paddle, I knew it better than you did, but you were really quick to blow off my concerns. I also didn't feel that you took me seriously. I would have taken that ass whipping for Emmett and when you didn't even give it a second thought that just pissed me off. There was no reason that I couldn't have done that, Carlisle; no reason at all. Emmett would have known that I saved his butt. He would have got the message without having to have a sore tail right now to show for it."

Carlisle's chest heaved as his breath escaped in a sigh. "Do you still feel this way?"

"Some…yeah. I mean come on, did you see the look on his face? Also I'm not sure how good of an idea it is to have me workin' at the hospital. I do alright at school, but purposely being around blood doesn't seem smart to me. I don't know that I have that much control. You lecture me about keeping a low profile and then you stick me in a situation that stands to blow up in both of our faces. Doesn't that seem just a tiny bit stupid? I don't think it's going to teach me Jack either. It's a weak punishment, if you ask me. Completely beneath you." Suddenly noticing his tone lacking the respect that it wisely should have carried, Jasper swiftly added a "Sir" in the hopes of appeasing his father.

Carlisle rubbed his chin while patiently listening to his son's explanation. When Jasper came to the end of his little rant, his father leaned back into the soft leather as he slipped into contemplation. Turning to his boy, the elder spoke in a quiet voice that held a tone of unwavering conviction.

"Jasper, you need to understand that I think through everything very carefully before I make any decisions that affect my family; especially my children. There are times, like this one, where I seem to make a rash decision, but that is never the case. Emmett needed to learn a good lesson, which I believe he now has done. You also have a lesson to learn; actually you need to learn a couple of lessons, Jazz. It is unusual for you to give me any real problem, son so perhaps I have become remiss when it comes to correcting your mistakes; maybe I have given you too much leeway." Carlisle crossed his arms as held his son's eyes with a piercing gaze. "Let me explain how I see what you consider a weak punishment. Contrary to your point of view, it is a good idea, but it wouldn't have the needed punitive effect on Emmett; for you, however, it will be nearly too harsh."

"Because you don't think I will be able to control my thirst?"

"No. I think that may be somewhat difficult, but I feel safe in saying that you will do fine. No Jasper. I can't think of a punishment harder for an empath than to be put in a situation where your emotions are going to be consistently bombarded." He stopped to give his words time to seep into his son's thoughts. Once he noticed understanding beginning to dawn in the boy's amber eyes, he spoke again. "The blood is going to be a challenge, but dealing with varying levels of pain, grief, anxiety and suffering eased only occasionally by relief or tinges of happiness will be exponentially harder on you."

Jasper's eyes softened as his mind began to race through a variety of scenarios. "Putting it that way, it is nearly terrifying."

"That is why I am not willing to subject you to working at the hospital for the week that Emmett suggested. Your three day suspension period seems to be just about the right amount of time. Hopefully it is long enough to make an impression without causing you major issues. I do believe that it will help teach you to learn to control your gift. You can block some of the effects, but you need to practice that skill just like any other. You also need to learn to block your projection. You will not increase the suffering of these patients like you managed to cause anger in me. Are we clear on this point, young man?"

"Yes, Papa. I would have never done that intentionally. That was dangerous to Emmett. I never meant for it to happen."

"I know, son but it doesn't excuse the fact that it did. If I hadn't removed you do you think you would have realized what you were doing before I was in fully blown fury?"

A film of venom clouded Jasper's eyes as he shook his head. "Probably not."

"Do you understand that this is a problem?"

"A huge problem."

Carlisle nodded. "Yes, huge is a very accurate assessment of the severity of this situation and you will correct it. This is not a suggestion, Jasper. You may take this as an order if that helps you amend the issue."

"I'll work on it."

"Jasper, you will do more than work on it."

"Yes, Sir." His head drooped. "I will make certain that it doesn't complicate things anymore."

Carlisle gave Jasper's shoulder a light shake causing the boy to look back to him. "Son, I don't expect you to be perfect. I know mistakes will happen and control will slip. What I need is for you to realize that you do have the ability to keep your gift in check much better than you have been as of late. I have faith in you, Jazz; always have and always will." He gave the boy a brief smile that was returned in kind before Carlisle took on a much more somber tone.

"Jasper Whitlock Hale, the time spent in the hospital will serve as discipline for your disregard of your previous punishment; however, your rule breaking at school deserves to be addressed as a separate issue."

Jasper's mouth felt dry as nervousness began to take hold.

"The paddle is on my desk. Would you go get it for me, please?"

The southerner didn't feel quite as sure of himself as he left his father sitting on the couch to shuffle over to the desk. The formidable black rubber strap with the hot pink handle seemed much more menacing as he hefted it from its resting place. Intimidating tiny kitty faces seemed to glare at him with a maliciousness he would have never suspected possible in something normally so utterly cute. _You made it. You asked for this. Now just man up and deal with it._ Jasper swallowed hard to dislodge a lump in this throat as he turned back and handed the homemade paddle to Carlisle.

Placing the paddle next to him, Carlisle pointed to a spot directly in front of him which his boy promptly took. "Jasper, over the last two days you have made several poor decisions. Today you made a calculated error at school. Remind me, what makes this minor offense a major complication?"

Jasper drew a breath as he raised his head and stared past his father. "My actions threatened the safety of our family by having the potential of drawing undesired attention."

"That is a violation of our coven rules as well as a violation of the laws set down by the Volturi to protect our species and, in our case, the humans that we associate with. This is a serious offense, son that cannot be ignored."

"I know, Papa. My plan was ill conceived and I am prepared to accept responsibility for my asininity."

For several seconds Carlisle sat silently as an acute sense of sadness settled over him. Finally, when he did speak his soft voice carried the strength of conviction. "Jasper, you know the drill. Jeans down."

For a moment the boy glanced at the fiendish implement that lay within his father's reach and felt his courage fail. "Papa, don't you think this is a jeans up time? I mean…well you know…" His eyes grew wider. "Papa?"

Carlisle raised a brow as he gazed at his son. "Jasper, would you like to lose the boxers as well?"

With a heavy sigh and slightly trembling hands the boy unfastened his jeans and slid them down his muscular thighs.

"Come on, son." The elder blonde patted his lap and soon held the nervous youth firmly across it.

With his hand resting lightly on Jasper's back, Carlisle felt his son take several deep breaths when a sudden calm came over him. "Jasper, you're projecting again."

"I know."

Carlisle smirked then took a deep breath himself to help settle his nerves and steel his conviction as he brought his hand firmly down upon his son's upturned behind.

The first few strokes stung, but were milder than Jasper had anticipated, but before he had a chance to revel in relief his father stepped up the pace and strength. The boy balled up his fist as he tried to fight through the pain of the inferno igniting his rump. At first he focused on keeping his breath steady to help breathe through the worst of the pain, only to find himself breaking down into shallow gasps as the ordeal wore on. His resolve to remain still and quiet deteriorated under Carlisle's relentless attention and soon Jasper found himself trying to wiggle off his father's lap. The disciplinarian merely tightened his grip to maintain control as he quietly began to reprimand his son.

"I expect better from you, Jasper. You are far too intelligent to take the actions that you have today. A Major does not rise to his rank by placing himself or others in avoidable danger. Taking foolish risks will land you right back here every time until a lasting impression is finally made. I will not allow you to endanger your family or yourself as you have done today. Be happy that the only payment extracted for this recklessness comes in the form of a sore behind. Caius would not have gone as easy on you if he were to become involved."

Jasper gritted his teeth as his father's words stung worse than his unyielding hand. _You call this going easy, Carlisle? Damn it. The pain of death has nothing on an ass whipping._

"Do you understand the gravity of what you have done, son?"

"Yessss," he hissed as a particularly sharp blow caught the tender weight baring edge of his rear.

"You know, my bearn, I want to believe you, but I still can't quite bring myself to do so. Next time you are moved to do something of this nature think about Alice. What would she do if her soul mate was destroyed; and destroyed by something as trite as lack of forethought and pure stubbornness? By your own admission, both Alice and Edward advised against having a weapon at school, but your stubborn pride wouldn't allow for you to be wrong, would it?"

Jasper clawed at the heavy leather cushion as he tried to focus on anything but Carlisle's words. His gentle compassionate father wounded him deeply with each question that forced him to look at his actions and the repercussions they could bring. His own death was not something to be feared, but he couldn't bear the thought of Alice being hurt. He should keep her safe. Could his stubborn streak really end up causing her harm? The idea of causing his love pain brought tears to his eyes.

Sensing a change in his son, Carlisle made the decision to drive his point home. Taking up the paddle he snapped it smartly across Jasper's barely protected backside drawing a strangled cry from the boy.

"Listen to me, Jazz. I want you to be proud of who you are and your accomplishments. I want you to stubbornly stand up for your convictions. Both of these qualities are wonderful integral parts of your personality, but so is common sense and you need to temper the first two with the latter." The paddle found its mark again and the sob that followed fractured Carlisle's heart. "I love you, son and I hate myself for causing you pain, but I will do it again because I would hate myself more if something happened to you."

A final stroke of the biting rubber and Jasper's tears broke free as he sobbed quietly. The paddle fell from Carlisle's hand with a thud while tears stung his own eyes. Jasper's emotional release hit his father like a tidal wave taking Carlisle's unneeded breath away.

Scooping his son up in his arms, the patriarch held the boy close to his chest while he attempted to soothe him. "Tá sé ceart go leor a mhic. Shhh. It's okay, son. You're alright. Tá sé go maith. Fan socair, a ghrá; tá tú slán liomsa." Carlisle rocked slightly while Jasper clung tightly to him as the boy's tears soaked his shirt. "Calm down, Jasper. You're safe. I have you."

* * *

**AN:** And there you have the mad ramblings of a over heated brain at 2am when it can't sleep. The majority of this chapter was written between 2 and 5 this morning. Was way too hot to sleep and I still had a bit of a charge on my battery. Yay! Cannot wait to have power back. Hopefully today. *crosses everything* I swear that once I have power I will dance naked in the street. ...hmmm... maybe that is why I don't have power. Might need to rethink that plan.

Anyway... I think one more chapter to give some comfort to Carlisle and Jasper along with a bit of a wrap up and this one is done. Wheeee! Thanks one and all who have stuck with me through this severely odd journey. You all rock my socks. Thanks to Splinter for all the clean up, especially on this last chapter. The brain just doesn't work well enough to get those errors in the wee hours. *hugs*

And.. let's see... "bearn" is the Old English word for "son" and most of the Gaelic is translated by the man himself in that last little paragraph. "Tá sé ceart go leor a mhic." means.. "It's okay, son." "Tá sé go maith." translates to "It's okay." "Fan socair, a ghrá; tá tú slán liomsa."..."calm down, love; you're safe with me."... not entirely sure on that last one but it's the best I could do at the time. *nods*


	16. Learning to Forgive

Jasper's fingers dug into the thin fabric of his father's shirt as he held onto the man for dear life. A part of him berated himself unmercifully for his childish need for the reassurance of his father's continued love, but he couldn't deny the revitalization his soul gained through this post punishment ritual. It was almost as if he was no longer the self-sufficient hundred sixty odd year old man who had lead armies and survived horrors that others could never dream of. The mighty protector of his mate and vicious predator of lore and nightmares had suddenly vanished. In his place stood a disobedient six year old that needed his father's gentle guidance, correction and care; Jasper needed his Daddy.

Carlisle ran his fingers through his son's fair locks while he continued to whisper words of loving encouragement as he held Jasper close. Each tear that the younger man shed delivered his father a step deeper into hell, but the elder bore this pain safe in the knowledge that the torturous tears also had the potential to free his boy's soul from the grips of guilt. With Jasper's continuing sobs, Carlisle began to experience the pangs of regret for the pain his words and actions had inflicted upon the youth. He could feel his son's sadness as keen as a knife blade as Jasper's pathokinesis ran amuck. He knew that there was no point in a reprimand given that, in his broken down emotional state, his brave solider could not be held accountable for his overactive ability. Both father and son would simply have to battle the emotional turmoil until it naturally subsided. Carlisle could only hope that his quiet support and gentle words would help bring about that resolution sooner than later.

"Shh. It's all over, Jasper. All has been forgiven. You were very brave and I'm proud of you, Son."

To Carlisle's shock, his words seemed to have the opposite effect on his boy than he had planned as they spurned a new round of grief driven tears. "Tóg go bog é. Shhh. Suaimhneas. Calm, Jazz. Análaigh. Just breathe, son. Everything is going to be alright."

Jasper shook his head as he fought to regain control over his raging emotions. Following his father's advice he took several deep breaths before they began to have the desired calming effect. As his anguish began to abate he sniffled softly then muttered quietly, "Don't be proud of me. I've done nothing to make you proud."

With a heavy sigh, Carlisle laid his cheek on top his son's head. "You always make me proud, Jasper. You made a few mistakes, but you didn't try to hide from them and that is something to be proud of."

"They were the actions of a child; stupid childish mistakes. Things that I knew full better than to do but was too infantile not to do them."

"Some were childish," Carlisle agreed as he eased Jasper back a bit to allow him to look his son in the eye. "What really matters is that you responded to them as a man. You took responsibility for your mistakes and accepted the consequences for your actions. That is all that I can ask of you, Son. That is all anyone can ask.

Like I said, I don't expect you to be perfect. We all make mistakes. I know I do on a regular basis; often extremely foolish ones at that. You try to correct them to the best of your ability, make amends if you can, learn from them so you can avoid them in the future and then forgive yourself and move on."

Jasper held his father's unwavering gaze for several long moments then sighed softly. "The last part of that is damn difficult, Papa."

"I know Jazz, but I also know that you are more than up to the task." Carlisle smiled as he squeezed the boy's shoulder.

Jasper smiled weakly and nodded before he lowered his head and whispered, "Thank you, Papa."

"For what, Son?"

"For everything. For having faith in me that I don't seem to have in myself. For caring enough to call me out on my bullshit even though I don't want to face it. For… for just being there and for being willing to be a father to me, which often seems like a great deal more than I deserve."

Carlisle's vision blurred as venom welled up to coat his eyes. For once he was grateful that his son had looked away from him as it gave him the chance to blink back the tears before they could fall. Pulling the boy into his embrace he kissed the top of Jasper's head.

"No. Thank you, Son, for having made my family complete." Carlisle cleared his throat as he attempted to shield his son from the emotions welling up within him. "All my human life and into this existence, the one thing I have wanted most in the entire world was a family to call my own. You, Alice, Esme, Rose, Emmett and Edward have made that dream a reality. That is a precious thing that no amount of wealth could ever buy. I truly am the luckiest man in the world and I have you to thank for it."

His son's soft sniffling drew his focus. Gently he pushed the boy back enough to let Jasper see the tears in his own eyes before he chuckled quietly. "What a pair we make, huh?"

Jasper rubbed the venom from his eyes as a smile grew on his face. "Apparently it really is true."

Carlisle cocked his head to the side, a questioning look on his face.

"Well you know… it's what they say all the time; like father, like son."

Carlisle laughed as he ruffled up Jasper's hair then gently helped the boy off his lap and onto his feet. Jasper quickly pulled his pants back up, wincing as the heavy fabric made contact with his sore backside.

"You know, Papa, between you and Alice, I don't even know why I bother to wear pants anymore. It would seem that life would be simpler if I just traipsed around in my boxers since at the very least I'm going to be down to just them eventually anyway. Save a step by cutting out the middleman."

"Somehow, I don't think the school dress code would agree with that, Jasper, nor the general public. Besides, if you could manage to keep yourself out of trouble you would only have Alice to worry about when it comes to that. I have to believe the pleasure involved there makes the inconvenience of undressing a very small price to pay. I know I never minded in the least." Carlisle gave Jasper a wink as he smiled at his son.

Jasper's hand stilled while zipping up his jeans as he raised his eyes to glance at his father. "I am so not discussing this with you."

"You were the one who brought it up, Son." The elder's eyes sparkled as he grinned at his boy's discomfort.

Jasper simply shook his head then, though reluctant to end this bonding moment with his father, softly spoke as he started towards the door. "Guess I'll head down stairs. I'm a thinkin' my help is required with the greenhouse clean up. Can't let my siblings do all the work."

His father's gentle voice stopped him in his tracks. "Jasper, you haven't been dismissed. We're not quite through here."

The boy turned back towards his father, a look of utter confusion on his face. "But you said…"

"Your punishment is over, son, but there is still one little issue that we need to address. Something that, in light of today's events, became much less significant, but still needs to be brought up." Carlisle patted the seat next to him then smirked as Jasper grimaced. "I apologize, Jazz. I wasn't thinking. Standing will work just as well."

"Thank you, Sir."

Jasper's training kicked in as he came to attention with his hands locked behind his back and head held high, causing his father to shake his head.

"Jasper, when I tell you to do something, I expect compliance. Unlike many in my position, I am not inclined to give orders, but that doesn't mean that you can treat my request as optional suggestions."

"Sir, if I may be free to speak."

"You are."

"I would never go against a direct ord… request from you. I respect you too highly for that, Sir; both as my leader and as my father."

Carlisle slowly released a held breath as he stood to look his son in the eyes. "Jasper, I want you to think for a moment. I know that you don't realize it right now, but what you just said was a false statement. If you can't recall the incident I will fill in the blanks for you, though I feel that you will benefit more from self-realization."

Jasper's forehead furrowed as he tried to think of an instance where he would have even dared to ignore Carlisle. His father had just asked him to sit and he had been slow to respond, but Carlisle relented and allowed him to stand. He had offered his submission to his father's authority in regards to his punishment. He had allowed himself to be led from the room without incident when he was interfering with Emmett and remained where Carlisle had told him to stay. He hadn't talked to anyone while he had stood miserably waiting in the hallway. He had…..

Carlisle heard his son's breath catch then very slowly leave his body. Jasper turned his eyes towards the floor as the memory seized his mind. He had indeed disobeyed a direct order and worse he had challenged Carlisle in the process. The boy closed his eyes as he inhaled deeply. He focused on the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner while he tried to decide what he could possibly say and what his father's next actions would be.

"Papa…"

"Open your eyes and face me, Son."

Jasper swallowed back the thick venom coating his throat before he raised his head and caught his father's eyes.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what to say apart from that it won't happen again."

Carlisle sighed softly. "It will continue to happen until you make a serious effort to rein in your instincts. If you can deny your thirst for human blood, it should be a cake walk to temper your over protectiveness." Jasper's head drooped at his father's reprimand, but Carlisle simply ducked his head to look into his son's wide troubled eyes. "Should it happen again, punishment shall be swift, this I promise you. You can expect to find my belt across your backside right where you stand, in front of Alice and any others present, then you will be formally disciplined later. I will not be challenged, young man. Also, I don't feel that I make very many actual demands of any of you, so to have those requests so blatantly ignored is extremely disrespectful in my eyes. Jasper, you know well enough that disrespect is something I am rather intolerant of. It will not happen again. Am I making myself clear?"

The boy nodded. "Abundantly clear, Sir."

"Excellent. Then we shall hopefully never have to speak of this issue again." Carlisle patted his son on the shoulder then walked over to open the door to allow him to leave only to find that Jasper had not followed. "Jazz, you can go now. The others will be looking for you."

Jasper swallowed nervously as he looked down. "My punishment?"

Carlisle looked at the boy for a few moments then nodded. "Cleaning up the mess you made outside is part of it. You are still grounded of course, but with the exception of a few extra chores here and there and rebuilding your mother's greenhouse your punishment is complete. I do expect you to remain on your best behavior this time. Whatever you do, don't fall for any of your brother's schemes again because if you do... Well just rest assured that I am keeping that paddle for just such emergencies and I'm not afraid to use it." Carlisle's eyes softened as a gentle smile lit up his face in an attempt to make Jasper realize that he wasn't entirely serious.

With a slight shake of the head Jasper spoke again in a tone that carried a little more confidence. "My punishment for disobeying and challenging you, Papa."

"The lecture was your punishment, Jasper. I wanted you to realize your mishap and you have done so. You have given me your word that there will be no repetition of last night's behavior and I believe you. Nothing more need be said or done on this matter."

"But…."

"No, buts." Carlisle ran a hand through his hair as he walked back over towards Jasper and leaned against his desk. "Alright, Son, you wish to be punished for your infraction? Fine. I want you to sit down at my desk and write me an essay on the properties of and reasons for compassion, mercy, and clemency. I want your thoughts on how you believe you can learn to accept forgiveness from others and, more importantly, achieve self-forgiveness. You need to understand how important it is to forgive yourself, Jasper. Maybe this little exercise will help.

Once you've completed your assignment come get me and we'll read over it together. I might still be able to teach you a few things, but first I want to see what you come up with on your own. Come on. Take a seat."

Jasper looked at the chair in disgust then shifted his gaze back to his father. "Do I have to?"

"I'm afraid so, Jazz. Maybe that little extra bit of discomfort will give you a better idea of why it is important to be willing to accept mercy when it's offered." He watched as his son slipped behind the desk and eased himself down onto the chair with a quiet hiss. "Be happy that it's padded instead of hard wood."

His son huffed as Carlisle placed a legal pad and several pens in front of him.

"Get to work, Jasper and while you are doing that I'm going to go pitch in and help with your part of the cleanup. Come get me when you believe you're through."

Carlisle patted the boy's back before heading towards the door.

"You never said how long you wanted it."

"As long as it takes for the message to get through. The length is entirely up to you to decide, Son. I know that you will figure it out. I'll even give you a little bit to start with. One of the benefits of forgiving yourself is that it allows you to let go of the past and live in the present. If you had simply accepted my forgiveness you could be heading outside right now to rake up glass with me instead of being stuck inside mulling over mistakes. Which do you think really serves you better?" Carlisle smiled gently. "It takes an awful lot of energy to live in a state where you aren't free to forgive yourself. Don't you think that energy could be put to much better and more creative uses? I'm sure Alice would have a few suggestions as to what that energy could go to." He gave his son a wink as he headed out the door calling back, "Come get me when you're done. I'll save a section of the yard for you to rake up."

Jasper shuddered at the his father's mention of his sex life. D_oes he have to do that all the time? I swear that man knows no shame._ In frustration, he tapped his pen against the pad of paper as he sighed before writing the word "Forgiveness" across the top of the page. "Why is that always so much easier said than done? Shit, I can forgive others all day without a problem, but forgive myself?" He snorted in disgust as he began to scribble a few words in the hopes that his ideas would start to flow. "It would be easier to teach a dog to fly."

"That's what a catapult is for," Emmett called out as he raced past the door on his way down the stairs. "Hurry it up, Jazzman. Going to need your help to teach Pops that we are more bad ass than he is. Once we get the yard cleaned up he is challenging us to some football. I need you on my team, Bro. Don't let me down."

Jasper heard the door bang closed followed by the sound of splintering wood. "Oops, my bad. Sorry, Pops! I'll fix it," then Emmett was gone.

Shifting in the chair to ease the ache in his behind, Jasper began to work in earnest. He could do this. He would do this. He would learn the lesson his father was trying to teach him and then he would save his brother from himself. What was learning to forgive compared to saving his moose of a brother from destroying everything in his path? "Piece of cake," he muttered with a grin as his pen flew over the paper while his thoughts freely flowed. "I'm coming to save you, Emmy. I'm a comin'."

* * *

**AN:** This does kinda end this one, but it has been suggested that I have one more chapter with Jasper serving out his sentence at the hospital. What do y'all think?

Special thanks to Splinter for all her hard beta work. Thanks to everyone for your comments, suggestions, reviews, pms, adds and likes... just thanks for all the support. Y'all really are wonderful.

Impromptu Irish Gaelic lesson three: Tóg go bog é translates as "Take it easy". Suaimhneas means "Calm". Análaigh means "Breathe." ... now thinking about it, I have to wonder if Jasper is thinking "What in the hell are you trying to say, old man? Speak English. I'm from Texas for crying out loud!"


	17. Lessons Learned

With a flourish, Jasper signed his name to the bottom of his essay. _Jasper Whitlock Hale Cullen. How silly is it that I like the sound of that?_ He grinned at the thought as he listened to the ruckus going on outside. It appeared that Rosalie was not pleased to find out that Carlisle expected them to forgo their vampire speed when it came to the cleanup. The idea of slow tedious work was not in keeping with Rose's sensibilities and she was none too shy about sharing her thoughts on the matter.

After some idle threats from Carlisle and a "Welp, it is supposed to be punishment, Babe." from Emmett, Rosalie seemed to fall in line and the cleanup had gotten on the way. In his mind Jasper could just picture the look on Rose's face and seriously found himself wishing that he had been down there instead of shut in his father's office alone. He had a hand in the damage, he should be held responsible for the cleanup. He gave a little nod as he quickly scanned his paper then groaned softly as he stood.

His sore hind end was reason enough as to why he should simply have accepted his father's forgiveness and moved on, but no, he just had to be stubborn. At first he felt rather insulted by Carlisle's scholarly form of punishment, however as he worked on it Jasper began to see the practical side. This wasn't really punishment but it sure as hell was discipline. Carlisle was bound and determined to teach his son a lesson and that is just what he had accomplished.

Walking over towards the window he called out, "Papa, I'm done with my essay."

"Are you sure, Son?"

"Right sure as I'm gonna be."

Carlisle gave him a slight nod. "Then come on outside and bring it with you so I can take a look at it."

Jasper had just walked out the front door when he heard Carlisle quietly reprimanding one of his siblings. It didn't long for him to figure out the target of his father's frustration.

"Emmett, Son, if I said that I want this work done in a human manner, what does that mean?"

"To work slowly?"

"It also means not to throw panels across the yard towards the trash pile. You walk them over there."

"But, Pops, it's not like anyone would see me do it and humans throw things all the time. I'm just trying to save a little time."

"Emmy, this is supposed to be punishment, remember," came Rose's voice in the most sugary sweet tone she could muster.

Emmett glared at his mate for a second then let his shoulders sink as he nodded in agreement. "Sorry, Pops. Do you want me to go get it and bring it back so I can do it right?"

"No Em, that won't be necessary. Just don't do it again, okay?"

"Yes, Sir."

A firm slap to the muscular boy's shoulder sent him on his way to collect more debris for disposal.

Jasper stepped up next to Carlisle and handed over his paperwork. "Looks like the door frame needs a little help."

"Well, you know how it is. I'll get him onto fixing that soon." The elder sighed softly before he began to read over his son's report.

"I can knock that out while you're checking my essay. Been working my mind all this time, it will be good to do some work with my hands."

Looking up from the papers, Carlisle gave his son a knowing smile. "Oh, no Sir, it's not that easy. You'll be putting your hands to work soon enough. Come on. Let's go over there in the shade so we can discuss what you've learned."

Alice caught her mate's eye and smiled brightly giving him a thumbs up before returning to her work. _At least someone thinks I managed a passing grade._

Carlisle's arm wrapped around his son's shoulders, leading Jasper towards the shade beneath the towering pines. When his father slipped down onto the forest floor and leaned his back against a tree, Jasper groaned, but followed suit. He grunted as his behind touched down on the hard ground before managing to settle into a reasonably comfortable position.

"Jasper, you may stand if you wish or you might find it a little more agreeable to be on your knees," Carlisle offered, his eyes never leaving the page.

"Thank you. I'm fine though."

"As you wish."

Jasper tried to distract himself by listening to his family joking around as they cleaned up the remains of last night's fiasco, but inevitably his eyes would return to his father's quiet reading. The boy began to feel nervous and found the need to continue to remind himself to keep his nervousness in check so as not to project it. _Why is it taking him so long to read it? I bet I screwed it up. _His eyes closed as he tilted his head back and moaned internally. _If I have to redo this..._ He growled softly before glancing back to his father.

Finally, Carlisle looked up from the essay to stare deep into his son's eyes. "You did very well, Jasper. If you find a way to put these theories into practice, I believe you will find it becomes much easier to handle your mistakes." With a smile he added, "It will make things much easier on me, I know that for a fact."

Jasper sighed in relief, feeling the tension that had coiled up within his body slowly release.

"However..."

The boy's eyes suddenly shut tightly. _Too good to be true. Aint that always the case?_

"I would like to share a few words with you; four things that you can do, or should be mindful of when seeking forgiveness. These actions come very naturaly to you, Jasper, which is why I have never had any issue with granting you forgiveness for any misdeed. Maybe recognizing them in yourself can help you learn to forgive your mistakes."

Jasper swallowed as he watched Carlisle closely.

"This is just a guide but it does give you a starting point and you may find it useful when you are in the position where you are having difficulty granting forgiveness to another. There are four "Rs" to look for within your actions or the actions of someone who has wronged you. Regret. Repentance. Restitution. Rehabilitation." Carlisle counted out the four points on his fingers as he held his son's gaze.

Jasper's brow furrowed as he tried to understand the lesson his father was offering. "How can you know that someone really regrets what they did or that they are truly repentant?"

"It's not easy, but when it happens you will know. You have an advantage over the rest of us because you can tap into the emotional state of another person allowing you to tell if they feel regret for what they have done. For the rest of us, we have to rely on our knowledge of each other. We recognize regret in tone and body language more than through the actual words."

"And repentance?"

"Easy. That can be something as simple as offering an honest apology. Being willing to admit your mistake and just say you're sorry goes a long way. As long as the words carry meaning that is repentance."

"Restitution I get." Jasper rubbed his aching behind bringing a smile to his father's face. "I think I paid for those mistakes pretty well."

"I agree that the debt has been paid and your rehabilitation will show if it was enough to correct your behavior. Rehabilitation is ongoing. It is a serious genuine effort on your part to never repeat your mistakes again. I know there will be times when you may backslide a bit, but as long as you keep working to avoid making that same mistake, then we can say that you have been rehabilitated."

Jasper averted his eyes as he thought about what his father had just shared with him. "And this is what you look for in us when we screw up."

Carlisle nodded, "Among other things, but yes."

"Isn't it ... I don't know... risky to be telling me this? What is to keep me from using this knowledge to try to manipulate you when I get in trouble in the future?"

"Not a thing except for the knowledge that you won't sit for several weeks once I find out, and I always do find out eventually." Carlisle cocked a brow as he studied his son waiting to see if he would challenge that statement. When Jasper looked away, his father chuckled softly as he caught the boy's chin and brought his head back until they were eye to eye. Taking a light breath, Carlisle spoke softly, "Jasper, you are a good man. It is not in your nature to be less than honest with me. Once shown the error in your ways, I have little doubt that you will regret your actions and be truly repentant. "

"Thank you again for the faith you show in me."

"It is well earned." Carlisle clapped his son on the back then with a serious expression he looked Jasper in the eyes. "I gave you these tools because I know you won't abuse them and I believe that at times they can help you see through your self doubt. If I have forgiven some transgression you can rest assured that I have witnessed these traits in you and have faith in them, but you can also reflect on them yourself. Ask yourself if you have displayed those four thoughts or actions. If not then rectify it. If you have then forgive yourself for your error and work on not compounding it."

"Yes, Sir. I'll try."

"Good." A warm smile formed on Carlisle's lips. "Did you at least learn something?"

"Yes, Sir."

"He learned that he's a slacker!"

"Emmett, private conversations are just that; private." Carlisle rebuked rather sharply. "I'm beginning to think that you didn't learn anything from our earlier conversation; perhaps it needs repeating?"

"Oh, no Sir. I was just walking this panel over to the trash pile and happened to overhear. Won't happen again. Sorry, Jazz."

Jasper grinned at Emmett knowing that if it were possible for his bearish brother to blush he would have been bright red by now. "No worries, Bro. I know how it is sometimes."

Emmy gave his brother a little tilt of the head in thanks. "Sorry, Pops, " he whispered as he scuttled by.

Carlisle sighed as he silently watched Emmett's retreat. "Now that is one that sometimes takes a bit of effort in bring to the regret and repentant state."

Jasper chuckled at his father's comment.

"Did I say that out loud? Darn it, but I really do need to work on my inside voice." Giving his son a wink he got to his feet and extended his hand.

Taking the proffered hand, Jasper soon stood next to his father. "Yes. That is something that I think you could use a bit of work on."

"You weren't supposed to agree so readily, boy." Carlisle growled as he caught his son in a headlock, but Jasper proved a bit too slick and soon slipped from his father's hold. Folding the essay, Carlisle tucked it in his back pocket before facing off with his son. "So you think you're clever do you?"

"Something like that, old man."

"I can't believe you actually just went there."

"Believe it."

Carlisle and Jasper grappled until they were once again down on the ground snarling challenges while trying to pin one another. A yelp from Jasper as his rear collided too roughly with the ground brought his father up short in concern. That concern would prove to be Carlisle's undoing as the tables swiftly turned and the patriarch soon found his shoulders pinned to the ground by his southern son.

Alice counted off the pin then pulled her mate up holding his hand high in the air. "The undisputed champion! Give it up for Jasper Whitlock!"

"Jasper Cullen." He grinned broadly and noticed the smile spread across his father's face. Reaching down Jasper hauled Carlisle back to his feet. "Sorry, Papa, but when you're good, you're good."

Carlisle laughed as he ruffled Jasper's hair. Suddenly a football slammed into the elder's chest knocking the wind out of him.

"Oops. Sorry, Pops."

"It's okay, Em. I take it the glass is all cleaned up?"

"Yes, Sir!" Emmett gave his father a salute as his boyish face lit up.

Carlisle caught Rosalie's eye. "Are you playing, Kitty?"

"I don't think so, Daddy. I'm going to sit this one out if it's all the same to you."

He gave his daughter a slight nod and watched her move back towards the house. "Alice, how about you?"

"Of course I'm playing." His dark haired pixyish daughter danced a little ways over towards her mate as she giggled happily.

"Alright, then I think we'll be going with touch football. It won't do for Alice to get tack…." Carlisle's breath rushed out of his lungs as he hit the ground hard. Looking up he was greeted by the sight of his tiny daughter holding the football while she bounced on her toes smiling sweetly.

"What was that about touch, Daddy?"

From wall sized window, Esme watched her mate and their children enjoying themselves in the late autumn afternoon; laughter and squeals filled the air causing her to sigh contently. A feeling of peace came over her at the knowledge that no matter what the trials the love that they all shared would always pull her family through.

"Momma?"

Esme turned to find Rose standing in the archway behind her holding a potted orchid in full bloom.

"Alice and I stopped at the nursery on the way home from school. Dad said that it would be okay. We wanted to get you started with replacing your plants and I know that you had several species, but this was the only one that they had so…well…" She placed the plant down on the table. "I suppose it is a bit of a peace offering as well." Rosalie looked up at her mother and Esme noted the tears of venom that threatened to spill from her daughter's dark amber eyes. "I am so sorry about last night. I had no right to say those things. I don't expect you to be able to forgive me, but still needed to let you know how sorry I am."

Esme closed the distance in a breath and held her daughter tightly to her breast as tears fell from her own eyes. "Of course I forgive you, Rose. I told you that I always will and I meant it. What kind of a mother would I be if I didn't forgive my daughter? I love you, Rosalie and nothing will ever change that."

"I love you, Momma." Rosalie sniffled quietly as her tears found release. "I didn't mean anything that I said."

"I know, honey. Come on. Let's sit down and talk for a little while. It's going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay. You'll see."

Esme led Rosalie over to the couch as the sounds of Edward's piano filled the house and seemed to reinforce her words. Things were slowly getting back to normal, lessons had been learned and everything would indeed be alright once again thanks to the strong bonds of love that her family shared.

"You know, Rose. Thanksgiving is coming up. I think we should plan on doing something special since we have so much to be thankful for."

"I think Dad would be thankful if he could figure out some way to fix your cedar chest."

Esme nodded. "Yes, I'm sure that he…. Wait a minute. My cedar chest? What happened to my cedar chest?"

"Oh, I thought you knew."

"Knew what?"

Rose looked away nervously.

"Never mind, Rose. It's alright, sweetheart, I'm not upset with you. I'll find out on my own." She gave her daughter a squeeze before getting up and wandering over to the window. "Carlisle Cullen, I would like a word with you!"

"Sure thing, love. I'll be there in just a few minutes."

"NOW!"

Alice raced to her father and whispered in his ear.

"Oh shit! I forgot all about that." Carlisle glanced around quickly. "What time do they close?" Alice whispered again and her father nodded. "Emmett, do you have your keys on you?"

"Yep."

"Let me borrow them, please."

"Sure thing, Pops." Emmett tossed Carlisle the keys to the jeep then stepped back out of the way as Carlisle and Alice raced towards the garage.

"Carlisle! Carlisle where are you going? I said that I wanted to see you." Esme called out, but it was too late. The jeep's engine roared to life and tires squealed as it sped out of the yard and towards the road into the dusky darkness. The family matriarch growled low as she stalked back towards the couch. "Just wait until I get my hands on that man."

"It was an accident, Mom. Accidents just happen."

"Yes they do." She settled down on the couch and curled up with her daughter once again. "But do they always have to happen around here?"

"Someone has to keep the home improvement store in business."

Esme laughed softly as she kissed the top of Rose's head. "We do that, don't we?"

She sighed as she tried to let her son's music ease her frustration while she waited for her husband's return. _There go the plans for a peaceful night at the Cullen house. Just once; is that really too much to ask? Really? Carlisle Cullen, my sweet love, just you wait until you get home._

_**FINI**_

* * *

**AN**:And that ends another one. YAY! Thanks to everyone for hanging in there with me and for all the support. Y'all really do keep me going and I truly can't thank you enough. Special thanks to Splinter for her awesome beta skills and for all she has done to also keep me focused. Love all of you guys. I never thought anyone would like my strange ramblings so... yeah. *hugs*


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